Cammie's lives at the Hancock County Prison (her father is the warden). She is friendly with the inmates, and is cared for by a trustee: Eloda. Because Cammie's mother died when she was just a baby, Cammie desperately wants Eloda to be her mother. So over the summer, Cammie tries everything she can to make Eloda her mother...but all of her attempts fail and she falls into a depression. Finally, with the help of Eloda, Cammie confronts her sadness and finally accepts the death of her mother.

While Spinelli's writing style is beautiful, I had a lot of issues with the plot and execution. I found it strange that future Cammie was narrating the story (especially since she didn't address any of the racial/social issues). It felt like it missed its target audience.

I almost stopped reading The Warden's Daughter several times but very glad I kept reading. Cammie is has a lot emotions and takes it out on everyone in her life. Cammie finally figures out what to do with her emotions and why she is mad at everyone. Before she has figured this out is where I almost quit a few times--why? I have students that act like this and maybe myself when I was her age. (dealing with at school and reading on the way home) What kept me going--I believe Cammie could help some of my angry students move through some of the difficulties they face.

Jerry Spinelli is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I read and adored Stargirl after seeing good reviews about it and then by chance when I was in Paris I went to Shakespeare and Co and was hunting for a book to buy and get stamped. I didn't want to spend too much money as the books were a tad more expensive and I found this for 11 euros and recognising the author decided to give it a go.

I adored this. I'm not normally one for historical fiction past WWII but this was outstanding and ughhh I loved it. Even though our main character is quite young for the majority of this book she is not infuriatingly immature like so many young characters can be. I thought this book was beautiful and emotional and I have no words. I'm so glad I read this book. Spinelli writes such incredible stories.

Loved this latest story by Jerry Spinelli! The messages were so good. It shows that good can be found in everyone and that even those looked down on by society are capable of noble sacrifice. Set in the 1950's, Spinelli really captures the times where children played outside at all hours, American Bandstand was king, and girls who liked baseball were definitely tom boys.

Cammie is a twelve year old girl whose mother died saving her live as a baby. Her father happens to be the warden of a prison. Cammie is searching for a mother figure and finds it in the most unlikely of places among the female inmates of the prison. The story follows Cammie as she struggles with the pressures of becoming a teenager. Her best friend is obsessed with being on American Bandstand, and she questions whether her new found friends really like her or are only interested in her because of her access to prison inmates. It's a heartwarming story and I immediately fell in love with Cammie. I listened to the audiobook version of the book and loved the narrator. Highly recommend this book to middle grade readers and older. Anyone who loves a good historical fiction novel would enjoy this.

I was really not fond of this. I didn't connect with Cammie at all and disliked 80% of the characters. They all just seemed really nasty. A character doesn't have to be all nicey-nice, but their faults and dark places should make sense, and I just didn't see that. The story was engaging at times, but I think the standoffishness of Spinelli's characters in Stargirl was attempted here, and it just didn't work for me.

so bad in so many ways

The last few chapters were my favorite ❤️