Wow! This book is so depressing, made somewhat less depressing by Opal’s connections to various animals and plants, the fact that she was writing, the fact that she seemed to feel some comfort in the presence of her dead parents.

Orphaned, living with a family that makes her work hard and seems to show her no affection, this is presented as a portion of her diary covering her 5th-6th year, a time when she was supposedly just learning to write, and missing many days of school due to her servitude.

Opal’s reaction to the death of “Michael Raphael” was so painful.

I almost laughed at the end when the author’s note painted an even grimmer picture of Opal’s life than did Opal’s own words, and how it ended with “And now you might want to start a diary of your own.” It struck me as funny because hopefully most child readers, after being saddened (devastated?) by Opal’s diary, hopefully their lives are better and their diary contents are less disturbing. However, this would make a good book to read with orphans, foster kids, kids who have to move, kids with otherwise difficult lives, and anyone who loves nature and its animals and plants.

The illustrations are charming!

Not for preschoolers.