Nory Ryan's Song

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryan's Song
Review: During An Gorta Mor, or the Great Hunger of Ireland, over one million of Ireland's eight million died from sickness or starvation. Newbery-Award winner Patricia Reilly Giff chooses this horrific period between 1845-1852 as the setting for her latest novel. Don't expect a book full of cliché happy Irish peasants singing and dancing, catching leprechauns. Giff doesn't gloss over one gritty detail of a daily life where starvation seems imminent.

When 12-year-old Nory Ryan's family first settled on Maidin Bay generations ago, they owned the land they lived on and the house they built; the house that her family still lives in. Now, everyone must pay taxes to an Englishman, Lord Cunningham, who owns all their lands. Those that cannot afford to pay in cash must pay with livestock or --- worse yet --- land from which they then are evicted.

Her father is away fishing, hoping to make enough money to pay back taxes for the months he's been gone, and Nory's mother died long ago. Left to take care of each other, Nory, her two sisters, and her brother rely on their elderly grandfather to help get by. The Ryans are lucky enough to have two chickens, a pig, and their potato fields to help them survive.

One night, Nory is awakened by an awful smell that comes wafting in through the open doors and windows. Her grandfather instantly recognizes the smell of rot from the potato fields --- the potatoes are rotting while still in the ground. Even Nory knows what that means: They may actually starve to death. So begins Nory's struggle to stay alive.

Nory is a brave heroine, suffering through horrors that I don't think any of us can imagine. With death and cruelty all around her, somehow Nory's heart remains filled with a hopeful song: her father will come back, regardless of how long he's been gone now; her family will have enough money to go to America-together; she won't starve to death; and she won't let her baby brother die.

Nory's attempts to distract her brother from his constant hunger are heartbreaking. Even as neighbors turn on each other in a survival of the fittest, Nory remains true enough to risk her own life to keep those she loves alive. It isn't fair that a young girl should suffer as she does while still protecting those around her, yet that is exactly what happened to millions of girls just like Nory.

A glossary of Irish terms and a letter from the author make this eye-opening story even more tangible. I won't tell whether or not Nory and her family make it. Be ready for a book so well-written that you'll smell the sea and see the beauty in this fierce land and its people. But also be ready for a book so honest and frightening that you'll smell the rot, feel the exhaustion and the all-consuming hunger that each of the characters feel throughout. Believe me, you'll be happy to eat whatever is for dinner for a long time to come.

--- Reviewed by Kate Torpie



Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryan's Song
Review: I reccomend this book to everyone, unless you get depressed easily. I think this book describes realistically what it must have been like during the potato famine. It's a very sad book, but is educational and should be read at least once in a life time. I want to read the sequel (Maggie's Door) to find out what happens next!

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryan's song
Review: Let me tell you now that when you read Nory Ryan's Song you will think your really lucky.This book is a about a little girl named Nory who lived in Ireland.Her dad was far away on a ship fishing so he could pay the rent.Every month a lady named Devil would come to Nory's house to collect the rent , and if they coudn't pay she would take things from them like food and animals.While her dad was on the ship Nory's sister moved to Brookln , New York.Nory now was very hungry and desprate to do just about anything to pay the rent, so she went the only person who had a coin in the village.That only person was Anna , who Nory was afraid of.Anna gave her the coin and soon enough they were friends.All of Nory's family was starving to death so Nory made shawl to buy some food and to pay for the package from her sister.In the package there where some tickets to Brookln.So Nory and her family decided to live in Brookln.

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryans Song
Review: Nory has hopes for her family and she wants to see them once more.She lives in this little town in Ireland,it was known for their great potatoes , but they had a situation with the potatoes. All of the sudden people began to starve and the people are just drinking warm and dirty water for breakfast,lunch,and dinner.What will happen to them?Will they starve?Will they get better?I dont know ,that is why you should read this great book.

I like this book because it is based on a real world event. I liked it bcause it wasvery interesting to know how people tried to survive in Ireland. There was a rich guy named,Cunningham. He was watching all those people straving and he didn't do a dran thing to help them. There was markets around but nobody bought anything because they didn't have any money to buy anything.

I would recommend this book to young adults becasue this is no book for kids, because it is short but kind of complicated so I think that this book would mostly be for young adults,because I think that most of them will get the message easier than kids.I also think they will get sucked by this book right away when they get it and start reading it. So I recommend you read great this great amazing book.

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryans Song
Review: Nory Ryan and her family including Celia,Patch, Maggie,Granda and dad live in Ireland. The English soon take over Ireland making people have to pay rent. Soon the potatoes go black and during this time Maggie moves away to America with her husband and dad goes away on a fishing boat to pay for the rent. This leaves a lot of people starving without food and money. After a few weeks their neighbor Anna helps out and watches Patch and Nory while Celia and Granda go work at a job. Nory then asks Anna to help her finish a shawl so she could sell it. Soon it was finished and Nory took it to town and sold it. As soon as she bought all the food she could get a man snuck up and took it all. While Nory was wondering about her family they were all just fine in America. Later dad goes there to and sends two tickets to Nory and Patch to go to America soo that they would always be free there in AAmerica as a family.

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryan's Song
Review: Nory Ryan is just twelve years old, living in Maidin Bay, Ireland in 1845. An English lord collects rent from the small village of long-time potato farmers. Nory's sister just married and sails away to America. Her father is still out to sea fishing. One morning, Nory awakes to a smell in the air and wonders where the stench could be coming from.

It was the poatoes. They were black and oozing with disease. Now the family has no resources to pay the rent nor any food to eat. Nory is left by her other sister and grandfather who go to look for her father. Nory is left with the responsibility of raising her three-year-old brother. With the potatoes rotting, there would be no crops or income. The lord's men would take all of the food and livestock as payment for the rent, leaving the village people with nothing. Nory soon finds a friendship in a very unexpected person, the healing woman, Anna. She is elderly and she begins to teach Nory her art of healing. All of the food is gone and Nory is the only one left healthy enough to get out of bed, although she is still starving. Soon, Nory must take on finding food for her baby brother and her elderly friend, Anna. She risks her life to hang over cliff edges and gather bird eggs.

Nory is a strong, resourceful young girl who goes to great lengths to provide for those she holds dear to her heart. She is independant and strong and she does not waiver to get justice for her loved ones. She makes a deal with the English lord so that Anna can have her dog back. The theme of this book is strong family bonds help spiritual and physical survival. And Nory finds strength in the people she loves.

Rating:
Summary: Austin's review
Review: Nory Ryan's Song

Nory Ryan's Song is a book about how some families survived with little food and no money. These people still have to pay rent for their homes. If they did not pay rent then they were sent away and their homes were destroyed. In that part of the city no one even had a coin but Anna Donnely. One of the families named the Ryan's had two daughters and a boy. The oldest girl got married in her mother's wedding dress and after the wedding she went to America. The father of the Ryan's was fishing to get money to pay rent. Because he was gone this left Patch and Nory by themselves. Nory and Patch had a very hard life. They had to find food for a long time. Sean Red, a friend of Nory's, had an extra ticket to go to America because his grandmother died. He gave the ticket to Patch and Patch left for America. Later when the Ryan's father finally came home, he brought a ticket for Nory to go to America as well. So Patch and Nory got to live in America and have a better life.

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryans Song
Review: Welcome to Nory Ryan's Song. This book is about the Great Hunger that was in Ireland. To understand this book you could read more about the famine in Ireland that took place in 1845-1852.

In this book you will be stunned about what happens to the people when the potatoes go rotten and can't be grown. It becomes a "dog eat dog" world. Nory tries to find out what happened to the potatoes and look for food at the same time. But the richest guy in Ireland is being greedy and trying to buy everything from homes to the beach! And this is why I liked the book!

I recommend you read this book if your'e in Middle School. This book was a good novel for my age group. It will really capture your mind. If I liked this book, I am sure you will too.

Rating:
Summary: Nory Ryan's Song a review by Emily
Review: Were you ever willing to do anything just to help a friend? Well Nory Ryan, the protagonist, in Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff did. Her friend, Cat Neely, and her mother didn't have enough money to pay the rent, so Nory did everything and anything to get the money that Cat needed. She even asked one of her other friends if she had the extra money that Cat needed.

One of my favorite parts of this book is when Nory and her family went to Patrick's Well and everyone had to drop something in the well. Nory didn't know what to drop in the well, so she dropped a piece of her hair in. Everyone else dropped something in the well that they didn't want anymore.

Another one of my favorite events was when Nory was walking down the road, and she came across Cat Neely and her mother. They were sitting in their front yard with their hair in their face. Mrs. Ryan told Nory that they didn't have enough money to pay their rent. Nory felt really bad, so she did everything and anything to get the money that they needed. She even asked one of her other friends if she had the money for Cat.

In conclusion, I really loved reading this book. I recommend this book to anyone that likes reading old-fashioned books. Personally, this book was really fun to read. So, if you want to find out the end to her adventures read Nory Ryan's Song.