Joyce Magnin

An interesting story during the Second World War about the ladies who worked at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, building and repairing the ships for the war. Most of these women had husbands serving overseas in the War. Maybelle and her best friend Doris are two of those ladies and the book centers around them mostly. Not to give anything away, but there is sadness and also joy throughout this story and when the ladies decide to finish a patchwork quilt together it brings comfort to all involved. I appreciated this story and appreciated the women who worked in this capacity during the War.… (más)

Jelly Bean Summer is at least partially autobiographical. The narrator is Joyce Magnin, and in the acknowledgements she says she wanted to write about "this true event from my childhood." She never clarifies which portions of the novel are true and which invented to make a whole story.
It is 1968 in Pennsylvania. Joyce lives with her parents and slightly older sister, the family dog, and her sister's beloved guinea pig, Jelly Bean. She has an older brother who went to fight in Vietnam, and is now missing in action. Fed up with the sadness that fills her house and her sister's less than friendly attitude towards her, she moves onto the roof, pitching a tent and taking a chair, sleeping bag, and a pair of good binoculars. While scanning the neighborhood one day, she sees a boy on another street looking back at her through his binoculars, and the two strike up a friendship. Brian is closer to her sister's age, a few years older than Joyce, but he's a nice boy. His mother and older brother are dead, and his father wants him to move across the country to live with an aunt who can do a better job raising him than dad can. Joyce makes it her mission to help Brian get the beat up old truck that belonged to his brother fixed, so he can drive across the country instead of taking the bus.
Almost exactly halfway through the book, something happens that radically alters Joyce and her already tenuous relationship with her sister, and alters Joyce's mission as well.
Jelly Bean Summer takes a mostly lighthearted approach to some heavy issues. A brother missing in Vietnam, a friend whose brother was killed in Vietnam and whose father is sending him away, death and guilt.… (más)

Griselda and Agnes are sisters. Agnes is extremely overweight (estimated around 700 lbs). She got teased a lot as a kid and Griselda became her protector when their parents died.

Agnes no longer leaves the house. She stays home and prays for her neighbors and they are convinced that when something good happens that it is a miracle caused by Agnes' prayers.

The town wants to put up a sign saying "home of Agnes Sparrows". Most neighbors like the idea, Agnes and Griselda are against it but no one seems to care about their opinion on the sign.

The sign goes up and very shortly thereafter, some crazy stuff starts happening in town. If the people in town thing Agnes capable of miracles, they also are just as quick to place blame on her when things go badly.

I felt bad for Griselda, taking care of Agnes all the time. It seemed like everything fell on her, from the burden of Accolades about Agnes, to insults, to daily card of Agnes and also having nearly no life of her own.
She couldn't even go out on a Saturday night without worrying about her sister.

… (más)