Here Today
Written by Ann M. Martin
Narrated by Judy Kaye
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
In 1963, Ellie's mother, Doris Day Dingman, was crowned the Bosetti Beauty at Mr. Bosetti's supermarket, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the Dingmans began to fall apart." So begins 11-yr-old Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman's story. Ellie, who is about to start 6th grade in the small town of Spectacle, NY, is the oldest child in her off-center family. Her father works construction jobs, while her mother, Doris, has only one dream - to become a rich and famous actress. But when that dream leads to Doris's abandonment of the family, it is Ellie who is called upon to take charge.
Ann M. Martin
Ann M. Martin grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. After attending Smith College, where she studied education and psychology, she became a teacher at a small elementary school in Connecticut. Martin also worked as an editor of children’s books before she began writing full time. Martin is best known for the Baby-Sitters Club series, which has sold over one hundred seventy million copies. Her novel A Corner of the Universe won a Newbery Honor in 2003. In 1990, she cofounded the Lisa Libraries, which donates new children’s books to organizations in underserved areas. Martin lives in upstate New York with her three cats.
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Reviews for Here Today
53 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5There was just something off about this book that made it not quite as interesting as Martin's other books. Part of it was that you could tell the mother was going to leave straight from the beginning... and maybe the rest has to do with how calm Ellie, the main character was. When things fall apart, you expect some amount of screaming and crying... but really there was none of that. She continued to be strong for her family. Which, you know, good for her, but really it made the book no fun to read. The only exciting part came when she ran away to NYC to see her mother, but that section was much too short and really could have been better.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Difficult to read, the author spares no roughness in the portrayal of an incredibly narcissistic woman with no thought of anyone other than the way in which they can be used for her purpose.Young Ellie is keenly aware of the selfishness of her mother. As the oldest child, she tries to fill in the gaps that her mother leaves wide open. Bullied at school, struggling at home, life is not easy for Ellie.Perhaps the author over did it in her page after page of the sheer ugliness of Ellie's life. Yet, she is spot on regarding how difficult it is for some children.Four stars.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is another post Baby-Sitter's Club book from Ann M Martin, and like A Corner of the Universe, it's a thoughtful, quiet and reflective read. Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman is the main character, a scruffy girl from Witch Tree Lane, entering the sixth grade in the middle of 1963. Her mother is a frustrated starlet, so eager to see her name in lights somewhere that she neglects, and later abandons her family, running away to the stages of New York.Ellie ends up running her family, while also acting as the unofficial leader of the Witch Tree Lane kids. No one on Witch Tree Lane is considered 'proper' – Selena Majors lives with her illegitimate child; the Lauchaires are foreign; the Levins are bohemian and Jewish; and at the end of the street live the elderly female couple who look after the tree the lane is named for, as well as acting as parents and grandparents for all the children on the street.The lane seems to be cursed – mail boxes are destroyed and messages painted onto fences and driveways. The children are considered outcasts at school – Ellie and her friend Holly are seriously physically bullied. And then Doris leaves.Martin has always dealt with 'issues' in her books – from losing a parent in With You and Without You to divorce and diabetes in the Baby-Sitter's Club books. In both Here Today and A Corner of the Universe the issues are set against a historical backdrop – where things are hidden and tucked away, rather than being openly discussed. In some ways this lends a rosy haze to the book, but in other ways it makes the story more disturbing – there is a level of abuse that we would be aghast at today.The book is very well written and the characters are layered and interesting. I enjoyed it fully, and look forward to more young adult books by Martin.