Jacob have I loved

Bibliography: Paterson, K. (1990). Jacob have I loved. New York: Scholastic.

Genre: Literary Fiction

Reading Level/Interest Age: 12-15

Reader's Annotation: Louise "Wheeze" Bradshaw knows she is not as beautiful and talented as her sister Caroline, but perhaps she has other gifts to offer the world.

Author: Katherine Paterson was born to American missionaries in China on October 31, 1932 and originally wanted to be a movie star or a missionary. She succeeded in becoming a missionary in Japan for awhile, but gave it up after she met and married a Presbyterian pastor in 1962. She has written fifteen novels and many other books, and she has won Newberry Awards for Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981, among many other awards and honors.

Plot Summary: "'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.' With her grandmother's taunt, Louise knew that she, like the biblical Esau, was the despised elder twin. Caroline, her selfish younger sister, was the one everyone loved. Growing up on a tiny Chesapeake Bay island in the early 1940s, angry Louise reveals how Caroline robbed her of everything: her hopes for schooling, her friends, her mother, even her name. While everyone pampered Caroline, Wheeze (her sister's name for her) began to learn the ways of the watermen and the secrets of the island, especially of old Captain Wallace, who had mysteriously returned after fifty years. The war unexpectedly gave this independent girl a chance to fulfill her childish dream to work as a waterman alongside her father. But the dream did not satisfy the woman she was becoming. Alone and unsure, Louise began to fight her way to a place where Caroline could not reach." (back cover)

Critical Evaluation: The story starts slowly, but it is well worth the effort to stick with it. The characters are meticulously drawn, especially the narrator, Louise, and the landscape is as much a character as any of the figures in the novel. Paterson realistically evokes the fictional Rass Island in its evils as well as its beauties, and one can easily understand Louise's attachment to it, even as she mourns its eventual loss. There is a part in all of us that cries out against the death of a culture, even if it is not our own, but Louise makes us feel a part of this doomed society, if only briefly, and we suffer for that belonging all the more when we are evicted from it. Young Louise's confusions over her feelings for her sister, Captain Wallace, even her parents further help us identify with her, and we labor with her under the constant remonstrations of her narrow-minded grandmother. Paterson pulls no punches here, as she did not in Terabithia. There can be no falsely happy ending to her tale, but likewise, there is no endless misery. Amidst the bad in life, Paterson shows that good can be found by those who look for it.

Curriculum Ties:

Book Talk Ideas:
• focus on descriptions (character sketches) of Louise and Caroline
• focus on description of island
• paraphrase a bit about crabbing with Call
• explore Louise's feelings for Captain Wallace

Challenge Issues: Biblical passages

Challenge Defenses:
• Be familiar with the context of the issues
• Explain library selection policies
• Provide reviews of the book from reputable sources
• Explain library challenge procedures
• Offer challenge form

Why was this text included in this project? My wife read it when she was a teen and liked it, and I read several good reviews of it. I was also interested in it because it takes place on an island in the Chesapeake Bay, and I recently moved to Maryland. But ultimately, I thought I should include it because it is included on many school reading lists.