Downright Dencey by Caroline Dale Snedeker Illustrated by Maginal Wright Barney Library: Young Adult Historical Bookshelf Timeline: Early 1800s, Nantucket 268 pp, Quality Softcover, Ages 12-up, RL4 Item # 79-9 — $12.95 Quantity:  or order by phone: 1-800-757-6831

Now also available through Amazon as a Kindle edition!

This treasure of a novel, a Newbery Honor Book, is set on the island of Nantucket just before the War of 1812. Much more than a tale of whaling ships and gentle Quaker eccentricities, it is a tale of friendship-the kind most truly espoused by these 'plain' folk, with all the struggle and complexity one should expect. Dionis "Dencey" Coffyn is a mystery to her mother, Lydia, whose stern exterior hides a heart that breaks every time her husband Captain Tom goes to sea. Within a context of outward simplicity of living and inward intricacy of relationship, Dencey matures from the little girl who, in unquakerly violence of temper, throws a rock that wounds the town outcast. She becomes a young woman ready to bear her part in life with grace and courage. Downright Dencey is a probing portrayal of the power of love to overcome social barriers and religious strictures.

 

HISTORICAL FICTION

CORE KNOWLEDGE UPPER GRADE REVIEW

SUBJECTS:

• Quakers
• Whaling boats
• Orphans
• Nantucket Island
• Massachusetts history, 19th century

Reviews

"A must read!! A very sweet novel about a young Quaker girl on Nantucket island. I loved everything about it and when I came to the end, wished there were more. I was very excited to find a sequal to it, though Bethlehem Books doesn't carry it. The sequel is called The Beckoning Road. I recommend this book and its sequal, especially for girls; they will love the sweetness with which Dency is portrayed."
-- Becca, age 17
MN

"A delightful book about a girl with gusto. She reminds me of myself as a girl growing up on the farm."
-- Rita M./ Mom of Teens
N.D.