Clover

by Dori Sanders

Book Overview

Clover Hill is ten years old when her father, the principal of the local elementary school, marries a white woman, Sara Kate. Just hours later, an automobile accident compels Clover to forge a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0945575262
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Length: 194 Pages
• Weight: 2.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Nice story

Clover is the ten year old main characther, in this story of learning to deal with new things. When clover's father is killed in an accident, she expects to move in with her aunt and uncle, but instead her new stepmom, who is white plans to keep and raise her. Clover has to get use to a lot of new things, like eating different kinds of food, and just getting used to living with a stranger. I throught the book was good, and give reader's a look at two people from totally different ways of life learning to understand one another.

Clover

Clover "Well you can take your food and shove it!" Clover exclaimed. Clover hates her stepmother's cooking. In her defense, Sara Kate honestly can't cook. Their crazy relationship becomes very clear as the story progresses. Clover is a ten year-old girl from Round Hill, South Carolina, who now lives with just her nagging stepmother. This is because Clover's father Gaten died in a tragic car accident a couple of days after he married Sara Kate. Sara Kate barely knows Clover and has to get used to living with her, just as Clover does. Clover needs to move on in life and get comfortable with the fact that she has to live with Sara Kate. Clover is not used to living with another woman in the house, since her mother died when she was young too. I guess I would feel extremely uncomfortable if my mother and father died and I was left living with someone I didn't know. How would you feel? Dori Sanders, the author of Clover is actually from York Town, South Carolina. Her father was an author and a principal just like Cover's father was in the story. After reading this book I became connected to Dori Sanders' writing and now she has become my favorite author. Dori Sanders might just become your favorite author too. While reading Clover I felt that this book was very suspenseful because it had me wanting to read on and on. This reminds me of another book I read called A Gathering of Days by Joan Blos. I think the reason why these books remind me of one another is because both of the main characters in each book have a new stepmother that they don't like in the beginning. I would recommend Clover to anyone, particularly to females. I think this book will seem more interesting to females because it focuses on the relationship between a stepmother and daughter. I would also recommend it to anyone that has stepparents and likes to read realistic fiction stories.

Diverse Cultures

This story is about a young girl, Clover, who loses a father and gains a stepmother all in the same day. The story shows about a young girl in a whole new situation and a young woman in a whole new world. Clover, a gifted, talented young girl experiences loss like no other when her father is suddenly killed in an accident, which leaves Clover under the supervision of his new wife. To add to the anger and frustration of losing someone you love, Clover faces yet another challenge, that of living with a woman of another race. Sara Kate, a white woman, moves into Clover's black neighborhood. It seems that the color of their skin is not the only thing that is different between the two of them. In this story about love and acceptance, there is a growth that occurs in both of them. Clover will learn to accept her new stepmother and Sara Kate will learn to love Clover as her daughter. Learning to accept differences is a reccuring theme throughout the story. Dori Sanders manages to capture these differences with a great deal of humor. Her description of each character makes them come alive, even with Clover's dad, Gaten. Clover is a book that touches the heart, soul, and mind, and will affect all ages, young or old.

Becoming a family

Hours after his wedding to Sara Kate, Gaten dies in a car accident, leaving behind his widow and his ten year old daughter, Clover.Clover, gifted but strong-willed, is not quite ready to embrace the new stepmother she hardly knows. They have differences in race -- Sara Kate is white, while Clover is black -- and in background -- Sara Kate is a highly educated, cultured city girl, while Clover has lived all her life in rural Round Hill, South Carolina. Clover's beloved Aunt Everleen is also none too fond of the newcomer she views as an intruder in their close knit family. Over time, though, the characters learn to adapt to each other. The transition from strangers to family is subtly told, and remarkably moving. Sanfers, who grew up in a rural South Carolina town much like Round Hill, and still manages her family's fruit stand there, tells Clover's story in a series of non-linear vignettes. This technique results in some confusion: a character that was dead two pages ago will suddenly resurface, alive. I can foresee that this jumping around would especially confuse younger readers, the target audience of this book.I also have my doubts about the voice of Clover. She is perhaps the most mature, self aware ten year old I have ever encountered in literature or in life. Despite these flaws, though, this book is a strong story, beautifully written.

Touching story of tragedy and hope

This book was unique, telling the story of Clover, a 10-year-old black girl and her new white stepmother. Clover serves as the narrator of this mild tearjerker, and when her father dies just hours after his wedding to Sara Kate, she is left with a stranger to raise her. The story is well-told, convincing in the voice of a 10-year-old, but does tend to wander a great deal. It was difficult to keep up with the pace at times, but altogether an incredibly enjoyable read!