Under the Ashes

Wow. Wonderful middle school historical novel. Well researched and what a great spunky protagonist as well as a guest appearance of Caruso. Truly captures the feeling of being in San Francisco on the morning of April 18th 1906.

I have not been on such a huge disaster as the 1906 earthquake though I have lived through two major ones in my lifetime. The author has caught the feel and comradely and fear that comes with it.

Would highly recommend it.

Note that this was an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was an amazing story about Elizabeth. Or is it LittleBeth? No, I think it’s just Beth. Anyway, she’s troublesome and then some, and she gets sent off to her maiden Aunt in San Francisco to become “refined”. She resents this with all her eleven-year old might, but she’s resigned to it. That is, she’s resigned to going. She’s not about to become refined if she can help it. There’s only one problem: this is San Francisco in mid-April 1906 and a couple of days away is a massive earthquake in which some three thousand people will die and eighty percent of this city of nearly half a million people will be destroyed. Severe damage and death also occurred outside of the SF metro area, too. The path of the Salinas River into the Pacific was diverted by six miles!

I had a hard time getting into this for a couple of chapters, but then it was like something clicked and I was completely on board. I don’t know what my problem was with the beginning. Maybe it’s my allergic reaction to first person PoV novels. I normally cannot stand them, and I can understand even less why authors are so OCD over them. I try to avoid them like the plague, but since none of these novels (except my own just published!) actually carry a mental health warning sticker on the cover, it’s hard to know what voice the novel is in until you request it and get to reading it.

This one, as it happens, turned out to be readable and the protagonist didn’t feel to me like she was self-obsessed or arrogantly demanding we look at her all the time. She has a way of deflecting attention from herself to what’s going on around her, and this was why, I think, the novel really opened up as it progressed to the train, and thereby to ‘Frisco.

The author made me feel like I was going through this with Beth: struggling to understand what was happening that morning as the world came literally crashing down around her. I felt what she felt, and I saw the eyesore. I felt the heat from the appalling, raging fires, and I smelled the smells. I felt her fear of losing her aunt even as she had such a prickly relationship with her. The writing is remarkable; it’s smart enough for an adult to appreciate, but juvenile enough for a kid Beth’s age to read, and to enjoy and engage with.

If I had a complaint it would be the usual one I have with children’s historical novels (and not a few adult ones for that matter, particularly time-travel ones) which is that of coopting historical figures and having them take part in the story. In this case it was Enrico Caruso - who was actually in SF when the quake hit. He left quickly and swore he would never return, and he never did. The story would have been perfectly fine had he not been in it, or had he merely been in it for the performance, and not actually hanging out with the girl after the quake, so I never did get the point of including him. He’s not the kind of person an eleven year old is likely to be interested in, or relate to.

But that’s a minor irritation, and it didn’t spoil the story overall, which was excellent. It was charming, funny, and sad. Beth was an awesome character, and I recommend her story highly.

Under the Ashes

by Cindy Rankin

Albert Whitman & Company

Children’s Fiction

Pub Date 01 Nov 2016

I was given a copy of Under the Ashes through the publisher and their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

This book will transport the reader back to 1906 Paso Robles California LittleBeth or Elizabeth is eleven and her family thinks she’s untamed but LittleBeth thinks she’s the Bravest, fastest most interesting girl in town. Even savingthe her brothers life doesn’t seem to bring praise from her family. Her family decides to send her to the Presbyterian Academy for Girls in San Francisco in hopes of teaching her to be more lady like.

While going to school in San Francisco Elizabeth will be staying with her Aunt but shortly after her arrival the Great San Francisco Earthquake happens her Aunt Sally is seriously injured but as the fires take over the city Beth finds that she truly needs to be brave as she rescues her injured Aunt from the burning Hospital unfortunately Sally is unable to save her Aunt.

Under the Ashes is a book I’d highly recommend.

Five out of five stars

Happy Reading

"The skunks started it, Frank and Jesse James made it worse, and a rattler finished me off."

That's pretty much how everything did happen in Beth's mind. Sure all of those things added up without actually knowing why she had done these things make her seem like a problem child. But after we learn why she had done all of these things you really start to feel for this child and wish that the adults had time/patience to listen to her after all of these things had happened.

"The plan for my salvation cut deep. I had to be sent away, had to stop being me."
Sure sending her to live with her prim and proper aunt sounded like an awful idea to beth, but after she got their she had a good time and learned so much in a very short amount of time that without being sent away she wouldn't have known. Yes multiple things that happened were tragic, but in the short time she lived with her aunt she learned quite a bit and saw things differently.. She understood slightly why sometimes two people can't be together even if they want to be.

"Hard truth is, being the bravest, quickest, most interesting girl in town puts me at a disadvantage. Ordinary folks-even my own family-can't seem to tolerate me."

Overall I really enjoyed this book. Sure Beth was full of herself at times, and could be bratty, but that's what being eleven is. Its about learning things, being confident in what you do and thinking your doing what you should be doing even when the adults don't feel the same way. Beth was so brave when the tragedy happened. Her confidence in herself was most likely the only thing that made it possible for her to do what she did and help those around her as well. The ending was incredibly sad, but it was realistic which was nice to see. I feel like I need to read some more middle grade after this because of the ending and how much I enjoyed reading this book.

"Deep inside, I understood there was something else I couldn't do. Bring back the people I'd lost by holding on to Su Ling and Grace."

A story about a part of American history that we do not know a great deal about in the UK. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a horrendous event that destroyed the lives and homes of many of the residents. This story is told through the eyes of 'Beth' who is still getting used to the city and living with her aunt. The descriptions of the trauma that they go through with collapsed buildings, fires, aftershocks and loss of friends really brings home the horrors of the event. It is a truly emotional story and brings that bit of history to life.

It all began with the skunks. Littlebeth wanted to chase the skunks out of her grandma’s yard and instead chased them right into the middle of the quilting bee. She also wanted to help out her teacher by showing the class where the famous outlaw Jesse James once stayed. So she didn’t have permission to take the class or the wagon on a field trip. The final straw was the rattlesnake. Littlebeth should have been a hero for saving her baby brother from a rattlesnake. Instead she gets sent to her aunt Sally in San Francisco to attend finishing school.

Littlebeth, now Beth, isn’t thrilled with being sent to San Francisco, but she does like Aunt Sally’s neighbor Mr. Steinberg, who is sweet on Sally. Her timing is terrible however as she arrives just days before the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Aunt Sally and Mr. Steinberg are both injured and sent to a hospital. Beth gets separated from them, but meets Mr. Caruso, a famous opera singer, who helps her.

I think the most powerful scenes were the ones of the actual earthquake. You could almost feel the building collapse under you as the earth trembled. I thought Rankin did a fairly good job of describing the horror of the earthquake and subsequent fires without making it too horrible for young readers. Beth was very relatable in her determination first to go home and then to survive and find her aunt.

I received this book from Netgalley.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Under The Ashes is a middle grade novel written by Cindy Rankin. Littlebeth is a lively and spirited girl whose spirited ways get her into trouble with her family one time too many. She is sent away to San Francisco to live with her Aunt Sally.

Almost immediately, Littlebeth notices that their kind neighbor Mr. Steinberg appears interested in Aunt Sally. But before Littlebeth can come up with a plan to bring her aunt and Mr. Steinberg together, she wakes up to a massive earthquake. Suddenly, Littlebeth must fight for survival. Between the fires that engulf the buildings that weren’t reduced to rubble, and the pandemonium amongst the survivors, this is going to be Littlebeth’s biggest challenge yet.

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. This is the third book that I have read this year featuring the infamous natural disaster, although the other two books were a young adult novel and a historical mystery. All three of these books provide a unique take on the earthquake, and the ensuing chaos afterward.

Under the Ashes is a good book. Its strongest point is its protagonist. Littlebeth is slightly unrefined, but her heart is always in the right place. She doesn’t try to be naughty; it just seems like trouble finds her no matter what she does. The book is a first person narrative, so the reader has the benefit of hearing Littlebeth’s insights directly from the girl herself.

However, the book feels rushed. There is so much going on, and so much that needs to happen, and it doesn’t seem like there is enough time for the character development that needs to happen in order for the reader to have enough appreciation for the direction the plot takes. I’m not sure if the target audience will even notice this, but as an adult reader, it was a little disappointing that there wasn’t enough book. Let me repeat- there’s nothing wrong with this delightful book other than there was not enough of it.

I would recommend Under the Ashes to middle grade readers. It’s always nice to see spirited female protagonists. Littlebeth demonstrates resilience and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. I am looking forward to reading more from Cindy Rankin

Under the Ashes by Cindy Rankin is a middle grade work of historical fiction. Elizabeth "Littlebeth" Morgan thinks she is the smartest, bravest eleven-year-old in Paso Robles. She loves sharing stories of the outlaws Frank and Jesse James and shows no fear when she whacks the head off a rattlesnake. But she is not the proper lady her family wants her to be so they send her to live with her maiden Aunt Sally in San Francisco to be tamed and refined. While Aunt Sally's life is unlike anything Littlebeth has experienced in the country, the pain of being sent away runs deep. Then Littlebeth meets Mr. Steinberg, Aunt Sally's Jewish neighbor. He treats her like a person, not just a little girl, and Littlebeth finds a friend in him. Mr. Steinberg is sweet on Aunt Sally and takes the two of them to see the famous opera singer, Enrico Caruso, perform. But Littlebeth doesn't understand the religious differences keeping Aunt Sally and Mr. Steinberg apart. Before she can meddle in their personal lives, the earthquake hits. Littlebeth is separated from them in the chaos of the streets. She must use her wits and bravery and trust in a few unlikely friends to locate Aunt Sally and Mr. Steinberg. But will Littlebeth be able to survive the disaster and be reunited with her family?

Under the Ashes is a touching story about a young girl that feels disconnected and unwanted by her family. I like that Beth is an adventurous girl, as quick to help others as she is to speak her mind. I think that her family is shown to really love her and what what is best for her, and while I think readers can relate to how they make Beth feel, they can also see that underlying love. I did find that the book took awhile to get to the action. By the time the earthquake hit, I felt like the book was already more than half over, although that information we read in the first part of the book was important it just felt like we took too long to get there, and then the action was a bit crammed together. I think the portrayal of human nature, both before and after the quake, was sadly accurate. The ugliness of selfish people, prejudice, and fear were well exhibited, but so were the kindness and innocence that can be found. I think acknowledging that that sort of attitude existed (and still does) and how pointless it is, is extremely important.

Under the Ashes is a solid work of historical fiction for middle grade readers. I think it is a good book for encouraging empathy and understanding the fears and actions of adults.