Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff

The story was relatable since I am Irish.

The story also made the reader feel transported to Nory’s Ireland. I enjoyed this story since it was relatable and the language was descriptive. Also, I feel this book gives a great sense to a unfamiliar reader of what life was like in Ireland during these hard times. Hard times always bring people closer together, and I think this book is proof of it. How important it is to stay true to yourself and help your loved ones, especially during times of hardship. In my eyes, the overall message was about family and resilience. To develop a scene in my head to see Nory climbing trees to find bird eggs, it gives the reader a great sense of the desperation that everyone was feeling during that time. Through all of her hardships, the author has a great skill in developing deep emotion through her words. With little money and food, Nory has to summon the courage, resilience, and resourcefulness to help her family survive. Her father is taking longer than normal to return from fishing with money, so her family is also under the threat of being evicted from their home. Although she is only 12 years old, she takes on the role of supporting her family and providing food to save them from starvation. Many people have gone through situations (including me) where things are going good and you make ends meet, when suddenly a difficult situation arises. Although Nory was only 12 years old, it was very easy to relate to her. Enough food to feed double the population was sent out across the sea, while an indifferent government ignored the starving masses.”Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was the development of the characters, especially Nory Ryan. “The Great Hunger of 1845 to 1852 was a tragic time for the Irish. In the author’s note, Patricia Giff discusses more about the potato famine. Reading this book brought good insight and emotion about a topic that I had very little knowledge about. Honestly, we hardly discussed the potato famine at all in any of my classes. I know many people had read this book as a student, but I never had. Events like plagues or famines are rarely discussed in history classes. People hear about wars and conflicts all of the time, but it is rare to hear of such tragic events. However, I still enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it for anyone who has not yet read it.I feel the author choose an amazing topic to write about.

It had its moments like most books where the story became slow and uninteresting. Overall, I feel this book was quite the amazing read.

Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff