About This Book

It's a place where life and love begin, and loss is borne.

Mothers give birth in the borning room. The dying take their departure there.

Ouside the Lott family's Ohio farmhouse, the Civil War rages, slavery falls, and the world marvels at the wonder of electricity. Inside, within the walls of the borning room, Georgina Lott will experience her life's greatest turnings. Across the years, she discovers womanhood and first love, experiences the mourning that comes with loss, and, as did her mother and grandmother, at last takes her place in the room as another precious life is about to begin.

The borning room is a room that figures large in the life of an Ohio farm girl born in 1851. Through its doorway pass the members of a free thinking family, bearing news of the world beyond the window: talk of runaway slaves, the siege of Vicksburg, seances, chloroform, electricity. In this heartfelt and haunting work, an account of one life, one family, and one room widens into a panoramic view of the human seasons and the procession of generations. "From an innovative, highly talented novelist and poet . . . memorable characters and valuable glimpses of social history in a beautifully crafted novel. Deeply rewarding." — K.

Notable Children's Books of 1992 (ALA)
1992 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1992 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Best Books of 1991 (SLJ)
1991 Books for Youth Editors' Choices (BL)
1992 Teacher's Choices (IRA)
Notable 1991 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
1991 Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
1991 Golden Kite Award Honor Book for Fiction (SCBW)
1991 Choices: The Year's Best Books (PublishersWeekly)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1991 (NY Public Library)
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Books 1991 (C)
Children's Books of 1991 (Library of Congress)
1992 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)