Following My Own Footsteps
Aug 1996 · Sold by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5.0star
3 reviews
eBook
197
Pages
About this eBook
The sequel to the award-winning Stepping on the Cracks. “Sometimes heart-rending, sometimes funny, Gordy Smith will prove memorable to all who meet him.”—Booklist (starred review)
In Following My Own Footsteps, sixth-grader Gordy Smith comes to grips with the fear that he’ll turn out no better than his abusive father . . .
With his father now in jail and one brother hospitalized, Gordy’s mother has no choice but to take the family to their wealthy grandmother’s house in North Carolina. There Gordy meets William, a boy who had polio and is now wheelchair bound. Though they become friends, Gordy’s plans to help William fail spectacularly. Matters only get worse when Gordy’s father is released from prison and his mother is poised to give him a second chance. Gordy must decide where he belongs—with his dysfunctional parents or with the grandma who is more than his match in toughness, in courage, and in love.
“A cast of unforgettable characters inhabit this work, seasoned with WW II setting but utterly contemporary in its concerns. Hahn is in top form, proving through Gordy’s first-person narration that real love can triumph over all kinds of adversity, and often does.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The complex characterizations, period setting and Gordy’s brave attempts to break a cycle of violence will hold readers’ interest.”—Publishers Weekly
“It’s a timeless social issue really, in any era, of having a dysfunctional abusive parent . . . A very good story showcasing complex friendships, familial relationships, and inner conflict, all set in WW2 America.”—Cats and Fiction
In Following My Own Footsteps, sixth-grader Gordy Smith comes to grips with the fear that he’ll turn out no better than his abusive father . . .
With his father now in jail and one brother hospitalized, Gordy’s mother has no choice but to take the family to their wealthy grandmother’s house in North Carolina. There Gordy meets William, a boy who had polio and is now wheelchair bound. Though they become friends, Gordy’s plans to help William fail spectacularly. Matters only get worse when Gordy’s father is released from prison and his mother is poised to give him a second chance. Gordy must decide where he belongs—with his dysfunctional parents or with the grandma who is more than his match in toughness, in courage, and in love.
“A cast of unforgettable characters inhabit this work, seasoned with WW II setting but utterly contemporary in its concerns. Hahn is in top form, proving through Gordy’s first-person narration that real love can triumph over all kinds of adversity, and often does.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The complex characterizations, period setting and Gordy’s brave attempts to break a cycle of violence will hold readers’ interest.”—Publishers Weekly
“It’s a timeless social issue really, in any era, of having a dysfunctional abusive parent . . . A very good story showcasing complex friendships, familial relationships, and inner conflict, all set in WW2 America.”—Cats and Fiction
Ratings and reviews
5.0
3 reviews
A Google user
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31 July 2012
I have loved this author since I read Time for Andrew. Some of her books are scary, some less satisfying, such as Deep and Dark and Dangerous, but Stepping on the Cracks, Following my Own Footsteps, and As Ever, Gordy made me laugh, cry, and want to read these books a million times over.
About the author
Mary Downing Hahn, a former children’s librarian, is the award-winning author of many popular ghost stories, including Deep and Dark and Dangerous and The Old Willis Place. An avid reader, traveler, and all-around arts lover, Ms. Hahn lives in Columbia, Maryland, with her two cats, Oscar and Rufus.
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