The Reason for Janey

by Nancy Hope Wilson

Book Overview

Philly's life changes greatly when, after her parents' divorce, her mother takes in Janey, a retarded adult, to live with them. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0027931277
• ISBN13: 9780027931273
• Release Date: May 1994
• Publisher: MacMillan
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A great read!

Nancy Hope Wilson creates a great story in the pages of her book, The Reason for Janey. The story takes you through a short time in the life of Philura Higley Mason. During this time, Philly is dealing with her feelings towards her father, who is divorced from her mother. During each visit with her father, all Philly and her brother do, is eat take out and watch TV. She begins to feel that her father is not acting like a father at all, and she is angry with him for this. At the same time, Philly is learning to love Janey, an adult with a mental impairment, which her mother took in after the divorce. As Philly watches Janey learn and develop new skills, she starts to wonder about George G. Nicoletto, Janey's father. Wanting Janey to contact George C, Philly starts to research him, and the more she learns, the more she realizes that Janey's father was not a good man. However, at this point Janey wants to meet her father. Through all of this, Philly is determined to beat Danny Stapleton at the school science fair, and is looking for a topic. This book does a good example of showing the personal growth of a young girl. She begins to question areas of her life and is looking for answers, such as why her mother married her father. She goes about finding these answers, and not always in a way that is the most comfortable to her. The author does a great job of making the characters come to life, with problems that are closely related to real life. The reader can easily imagine himself/herself in the setting of the book. This is a greatly written story, that will capture the reader's attention, and make it hard to put down.

Review for The Reason For Janey

I enjoyed the book, The Reason for Janey". This book deals with two girls who become friends and one of them is mentally retarded. Philly, one of the main characters goes through many changes and emotions in the book. Janey, who is retarded, learns to live with and cope with the fact that she has a disability. Philly in the beginning resents Janey however she soon overcomes these feelings and learns a secret from her mother's past that explains why Janey is now living with them. This book would be good to use if you come into contact with a mentally retarded person who becomes permanant in your life. I think it portrays how disabled people have feelings too. The author did a fantastic job writing this book.

Fun and Serious at the Same Time

Philly, a young girl, tries to figure out why Janey, a woman with Down's Syndrome who has just moved in with them, fits into her family better than Philly's dad ever did. A wonderful book--I read it as a high school student and loved it. Kids everywhere will sympathize with Philly's Science Fair experiences. But it's not just a fun novel, it's also a sensitive portrayal of a woman with a disability. There's a moving bit describing a visit to the institution where Janey used to live.