It’s summer 1959, and Cammie O’Reilly is 12 about to be 13. Her father is the warden of the Hancock County Prison, a castle-like place located in Two Mills, Pennsylvania, and they live in an attached apartment that overlooks the prison. Cammie’s mother has been dead since she was a baby, killed saving her daughter's life when she was hit by a milk truck while pushing Cammie’s baby carriage. Now, she and her father are cared for during the day by a prison trustee, or “cammie-keeper” as she calls them, an inmate who has been well vetted for security reasons. This is the summer that Cammie decides she needs a mother and she sets her sights on Eloda Pupko, their latest trustee.

While she tries to finagle motherly feelings from the cold, distant Eloda, Cammie lives an otherwise busy life. Mornings, she likes to hang out with the women prisoners while they are in the exercise yard. Cammie’s favorite prisoner is Boo Boo Dunbar, a spirited, affectionate African American woman supposedly in for shoplifting but who is hiding a very dark secret. Outside prison, her best friend is fashion conscious, makeup wearing Reggie Weinstein, 13 going on 17, and whose greater wish is to appear on American Bandstand.

By her own admission, Cammie knows that the other girls her age are moving on to adolescence while she clings to her childhood. When her anger bubbles over, she lashes out at people, so when a new boy in town shows an interest in her, Cammie responds by punching him in the nose. She is also basically a loner, who spends a lot of her time riding her bike and eating phenomenal amounts and kinds of food. Classic right? Running away from her problems and filling the empty mother-space in her life with food, and fighting everyone and any one who tries to get her to move on.

In the middle of the summer, a child murderer is temporarily housed in the prison, and Cammie suddenly finds herself with a few more friends thanks to Reggie who, after finally making it to American Bandstand, is now obsessed with this prisoner. Her new friends even nickname themselves the Jailbirds, and love visiting her at the prison. But as Cammie’s life spins out of control, she throws the Jailbirds out of her 13th birthday party (and her first sleepover), after which, they begin to distance themselves from her.

But as Cammie must ultimately learn, "no mother is finally buried until her child climbs out of the grave." (pg 282) And it will take another tragedy, more loss, and a symbolic act for Cammie to be able to finally come to terms with her mother’s death and move on to adolescence.

Spinelli set The Warden's Daughter in an familiar place for those who have already read his earlier novel Maniac Magee. And why not? Setting in this novel is vivid and realistic, and such an important part of the story. The Hancock County Prison is a character in its own right and its a place that Spinelli knows well, modeled on the Montgomery County Prison in Norristwon, PA, his hometown. I was curious about the prison, since it plays such a central part in this novel, so I looked it up and it is exactly as described.

The setting is important for another reason - Cammie lives in her own kind of prison, a prisoner of her anger, confusion and grief, from which she must break out in order to be free of the past. And yet, despite the nostalgic setting and for all her tragedy, Cammie’s story completely lacks a elegiac sense.

Like Jack in Spinelli's earlier novel Hokey Pokey, the reader catches Cammie at a moment of transition as she finally must deal with coming of age that, unlike Jack, she is fighting every step of the way, unwilling to let go of her childhood and take responsibility for herself.

This book is recommended readers age 9+
This novel was ARC received from the publisher, Alfred A. Knopf

This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading

I felt that this could have been condensed a bit more. It has an interesting aspect of growing up, it just didn't pull me in like some of his other books.

Avid Spinelli readers will recognize so much of Two Mills from Maniac Magee and Knots in My Yo-Yo String. The hot-pepper zeps are a particular favorite. I was hooked on this book right away and it stayed pretty compelling most of the way through. Based on Knots, Cammie is basically a female version of preteen Spinelli, and since I spent most of my childhood wishing to be a preteen boy in the 1950s, it was right up my alley.

Not my favorite Spinelli read.

Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: Robert Stroud
Drinking Buddy: Guy Fawkes
Testosterone Estrogen Level: Papillon
Talky Talk: Chief Bromden
Bonus Factors: Prison, 1950s
Bromance Status: Abbé Faria

Read the full book report here.

Imagine not only growing up without your mother, but growing up in a prison. This is Cammie O'Reilly's life. Her father is the warden at Hancock County Prison.

The story of Cammie O'Reilly's mother's death is the stuff of legend. And Cammie knows the story well even though she was just an infant when it happened. But after almost thirteen years without a mom, she's decided now is the time. She's chosen her candidates well: a trustee at the prison who takes care of the warden's apartment (and Cammie) during the day, whose crime Cammie still hasn't gotten out of her, and another prisoner in for shoplifting. But as days go by and Cammie's plan to recruit a mom seems to be failing, her resolve becomes even more steadfast.

You might think a story about a girl in search of a mom would be a sad one. You wouldn't be wrong. A lot of it is a subtle sad, the kind you get pondering over Cammie's problem and the obvious effects. Of course there's plenty of real sad as well. Cammie herself might not admit to being sad. Cammie would say she's angry.

Her anger manifests in a lot of ways, but it's clear most of that anger is honed and focused on her task. She longs for a motherly figure, attention, and, surprisingly, discipline! There's an almost heart wrenching argument that occurs at one point between Cammie and her best friend, Reggie, who, in somewhat insulting Eloda, gets Cammie to admit her goal of making Eloda her surrogate mother. But at the same time, as sad as Cammie's predicament is, it shows such a wonderful strength in her that is truly admirable!

While there were admittedly plenty of parts of The Warden's Daughter that left me misty eyed, it's really not all sad. Nor is it overwhelmingly so. It's impossible to read Cammie's story without a preponderance of hope for the girl. Cammie is strong willed and free spirited and guaranteed to win over each and every reader.

There's a great element of nostalgic fun to The Warden's Daughter too. Set in 1959, the story features a strong sense of innocence - amongst the children and, to some extent, the world via the small town of Two Mills. Cammie bikes throughout town, treats herself to her favorite meal at the local diner (she LONGS for scrapple night and day!), and has fairly free run of the prison itself, mingling with and befriending the female prisoners.

Pop culture references of the time are peppered throughout, especially in the music Cammie and her friends listen to (Reggie's dream, which is fulfilled, is to appear on Bandstand).

That said, I feel there's a dark undertone to the tale as well, though. Darker than the grief that Cammie is feeling. A sense that the innocence mentioned above is coming to an end. It's maybe a sense too of the possible future for Cammie and the potential for parallels to some of the other characters in the tale. To say more might give something away, but I can say I walked away from this one with a sense of fulfillment regarding Cammie's story.

But The Warden's Daughter misses the mark. This story doesn't capture me like his others, and his use of racial stereotypes is not okay. Boo Boo is almost nothing but racial stereotypes. Overly jovial black woman. Inmate. Sweet potato pie. Ignorant. Harmful stereotypes abound in one character, which is something I never expected from Spinelli or his publisher. The only good thing about Boo Boo is that she teaches Cammie the concept of the Love Bridge. The Love Bridge is the unbreakable connection between two people who love each other. It's a really beautiful and poignant way to think about love and grief, especially for kids.

The plot is too convenient at times. Though the story is set in 1959, it's actually told by Cammie in the future, who is a grandmother. But did she reflect on racism? On how she saw Boo Boo as a caricature? Nope. All she does is remember 1959 with little thought of the way she saw the world as a kid. Again, unacceptable.

Eloda Pupko is another character that falls flat for me. I wish we saw some development in a way other than a diary at the end. Her journal felt like such a throwaway plot point to me. Her reasons for doing what she did (no spoilers) aren't solid enough to explain why she does it.
I can identify with young Cammie, and I think kids will too. We all have pent up anger about something in our lives that we need to release in a healthy way. Her friend is turning into a teenager and leaving her behind while she stews over the past. I've been there. A lot of us have.

But even with as much as I like Cammie, I can't give this book a good review. I'm incredibly disappointed in The Warden's Daughter. I guess even great authors write bad books sometimes. This review was originally posted on Tales Between the Pages

Slow though compelling story of a girl coming of age in a prison in the 1950s. Characters are well developed and the narrative, while subtle, is honest. Very strong novel.