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Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller | 
 enlarge | Author: Sarah Miller
Publisher: Atheneum
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.39
You Save: $7.60 (45%)
New (37) Used (14) from $4.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 80054
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 1
ISBN: 1416925422
EAN: 9781416925422
ASIN: 1416925422
Publication Date: July 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW COPY, NO UGLY REMAINDER MARKS.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Annie Sullivan was little more than a half-blind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she'd taken on a seemingly impossible job -- teaching a child who was deaf, blind, and as ferocious as any wild animal. But Helen Keller needed more than a teacher. She needed someone daring enough to work a miracle. And if anyone was a match for Helen, it was the girl they used to call Miss Spitfire.For Annie, reaching Helen's mind meant losing teeth as raging fists flew. It meant standing up when everyone else had given up. It meant shedding tears at the frustrations and at the triumphs. By telling this inspiring story from Annie Sullivan's point of view, Sarah Miller's debut novel brings an amazing figure to sharp new life. Annie's past, her brazen determination, and her connection to the girl who would call her Teacher have never been clearer.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
A Wonderful Book November 17, 2008
Miss Spitfire
Miss Spitfire, by Sarah Miller, is a historical fiction book that talks about the life of Annie Sullivan. Annie Sullivan was Helen Keller's teacher, and this book describes how she taught Helen Keller to communicate, even though she was deaf and blind.
Most people are aware of Helen Keller's story, but overlook the stories about the teacher who made her story so famous. Annie Sullivan was only 20 years old when she arrived in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She went to Ivy Green, the Keller's house, and began to teach their blind and deaf daughter, Helen Keller. At first Helen is very difficult to teach and gets frustrated when no one can understand her. Under the watchful eye of her parents, Helen becomes almost impossible. Finally, Annie Sullivan convinces Mr. And Mrs. Keller to let her take Helen to the little house next door in order to teach her. Helen is stubborn for the first few days, but finally begins to accept Annie. After a while, however, Captain Keller insists that Helen returns to Ivy Green.
Even though Helen can spell, Annie believes it is only mimicry. She wonders if she will ever get Helen to communicate. Hopefully, in the end Helen will realize that words have meanings.
I thought this book was a wonderful story and showed how someone who had never taught before could teach one of the most difficult students. If only it wasn't so short.
Wonderful book about Annie Sullivan March 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this book! When I first read it, I was reminded of reading the play, The Miracle Worker. Ms. Miller has written a wonderful book for children about Annie Sullivan, the teacher who helped Helen Keller connect to the world. I have shared the book with my students and other teachers. Some of my students have commented that they never knew about Annie Sullivan, and how important she was to Helen's education.
More Than Miracle Worker October 13, 2007
Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher and lifelong friend, tells her own story for middle grade to high school readers in this fictionalized autobiography. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from Sullivan's letters to Sophia Hopkins, a mentor and friend (as well as housemother) from Perkins Institute for the Blind. Annie was sent to serve the Keller family after her own hero journey from Tewksbury orphanage to Perkins, half blind most of the time. While the story will be familiar to anyone who has seen The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke and Ann Bancroft, the details of Sullivan's first teaching job, counter pointed by details from her personal history (sent to the almshouse, the ensuing loss of a brother, her blindness, her trepidation hidden carefully from the Kellers about not being able to help Helen at all) will ring true. The courage and determination of a young woman triumphs in the face of family reluctance and interference which made her efforts to teach Helen Keller the "true meaning" behind the fingerspelled words very difficult. Annie's emphasis on civilized behavior despite disability is remarkable in our own "anything goes" world where comportment has fallen into the world of archaic concepts. The author's afterword is perhaps the heart of the book, telling the story concisely of how 20-year-old Sullivan broke through Helen's shell in a month, and for the next fifty years accompanied her on the incredible journey into the wider world. 11 photographs, an extensive bibliography including books, articles, films and videos plus online resources will help readers continue inquiry if they desire. A two-page chronology of events is also included. The cover includes Braille rendition of the title and subtitle.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too September 21, 2007
While most people have at least heard of Helen Keller, few know much about her teacher, the dedicated and passionate Annie Sullivan. Sarah Miller's MISS SPITFIRE may change that. The novel gives a fictionalized but well-researched narrative, in Annie's own voice, of the first month Annie spent with Helen. Her struggle to reach this wild, blind, and deaf child and overcome the obstacles presented by Helen's family makes a riveting read.
Miller delves deeply into her subject, letting readers in on Annie's early life through memories and flashbacks--of her abusive father, of the horrible years she spent at a state almshouse, and of the better but still difficult years in a school for the blind. Readers will find it easier to sympathize with and relate to her loneliness and longing for affection. It's wonderful to see the parts of her personality that had long been considered flaws--her stubbornness, her fierce temper--become assets in dealing with Helen. More than just a historical figure, in MISS SPITFIRE Annie Sullivan becomes a fully realized human being.
It's clear from the novel that Annie's success didn't come easily. It details every setback and every triumph, no matter how minor, until readers will be racing through the pages waiting to see how she will finally break through to Helen. They may be a little disappointed to discover that the novel ends shortly after that major breakthrough, wishing to read on and continue the journey with Annie. A sequel would certainly be welcome!
MISS SPITFIRE is everything a historical novel should be--richly imagined, true to its period, and providing an engaging story that will feel completely relevant to modern readers.
Reviewed by: Lynn Crow
The Magic of Language September 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"My heart is singing for joy this morning."
-Anne Sullivan to Sophia Hopkins, March 1887
So begins one of the chapters in Sarah Miller's debut novel Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller, and her quote from Annie Sullivan describes just how I felt when I finished this magical book.
Last spring, I issued an invitation to authors of historical fiction, to send me information about their books for a presentation I'm doing this fall at the New York State Reading Association Conference. I heard from wonderful writers -- some whose works I knew and some who were new to me. But one title REALLY caught my eye: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller. First, it got my attention because the titles of our books are so similar(Mine is called SPITFIRE). When I opened it up to start reading, it got my attention in another way -- a sweep-you-away-in-the-story kind of way.
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller tells the story of Annie Sullivan, the young woman who battled beliefs of the time and fought with every ounce of energy she had to give Helen Keller the gift of language. Sarah Miller tells the story in Annie's voice -- and tells it with a passion that speaks to the depth of her research and her pure love for this historical figure. Miss Spitfire not only tells the story we see in The Miracle Worker -- the story of Annie's time with Helen -- but also plunges into Annie Sullivan's past, and in doing so, provides a deeper understanding of the commitment and determination that led to her success.
The portrayals of Annie's emotional, psychological, and physical struggles with Helen were so vivid that I found myself reading with my brow furrowed in determined solidarity with Annie as she plunked Helen back into her seat at the dining room table for the tenth time. Truly, Annie had to be a spitfire to survive this monumental challenge when she was little more than a girl herself.
The minor characters in this novel sparkle, too. One of my favorite scenes brought Helen together for a lesson with the Kellers' servant boy Percy. I felt like I was about to burst with pride right along with Annie when Helen began to turn from a student into a teacher, helping Percy with some of the letters. Mr. & Mrs. Keller, too, are painted with a tremendous depth of understanding. It would have been easy to portray Helen's parents as one-dimensional characters who got in the way of Annie's work, but instead, Sarah Miller helps us to see their complexity and feel some of their anguish at having a beautiful, broken child.
Early in the book, Annie tells Helen's mother why her lessons are so vital to Helen.
"Words, Mrs. Keller, words bridge the gap between two minds. Words are a miracle."
Indeed, they are. And Miss Spitfire will have you believing in that miracle all over again.
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