Man of the Family [Hardcover]

Karr (The Great Turkey Walk) captures the hopes and trials of a first-generation Hungarian family struggling to build a farm in southern New Jersey after WWI. She characterizes the five siblings and their parents as a tightly knit group yet clearly differentiates their personalities. The novel's greatest strength is the relationship between the 10-year-old narrator, Istv n, and his soft-spoken, industrious father, Apa. As the eldest son describes the events of a single year, he portrays the importance of his father's role and foreshadows events to come. For example, early in the novel, Apa finds work in Philadelphia, and while he's away the family nearly botches their livelihood. But Karr also communicates the family's strength during Apa's stint away; when the mortgage man arrives with a lascivious proposition to compensate for their missing payments, Anya, Istv n's gentle mother, slaps the man. Hence, the author offers readers some reassurance when the characters later must confront Apa's more sustained absence. Historical details abound (e.g., the second son's passionate interest in automobiles conveys their novelty; Istv n and Apa construct their own radio set), yet the childhood themes will be easily recognizable to readers today. They will root for Istv n as he steps into his father's shoes and remember these winning characters long after the final page has turned. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grade 4-8-The man of the Csere family is Apa, a lively and enthusiastic fellow who left Hungary to raise his family in America. He is seen through the eyes of his 10-year-old son Istv n, who narrates this warm tale set in South Jersey in the 1920s. The boy loves his father's energetic and optimistic approach to life, and the humor that comes along with it. Apa lets Istv n watch and learn as he schemes to get rid of a weasel, remove stumps with dynamite, and construct a crystal radio set. While his plans aren't always immediately successful, Apa's magnetic and dauntless spirit comes through beautifully. Istv n shows less enthusiasm, however, when his father declares that he must perform on the violin at a Christmas program. Still, Apa's stern insistence, coupled with Istv n's own inner resources, results in a fine performance and a lesson learned. The episodes are amusing and sometimes fascinating, but the warm relationship between father and son lies at the heart of this excellent novel. When Apa dies from an appendicitis attack, Istv n has to take on the role of "man of the family" far sooner than he anticipated. The sad ending is balanced by the boy's realization that he has learned enough from his father to try bravely to follow in his footsteps.
Steven Engelfried, Deschutes County Library, Bend, OR
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Karr draws on her father's childhood for this moving historical novel of a Hungarian immigrant family trying to make a home on a chicken farm in South Jersey in the 1920s. Ten-year-old Istvan tells the story with humor and affection, with lots of concrete detail about the family and farm, and with a catch in his voice. The focus is on the boy's bond with his father, "Apa," who teaches Istvan to work the farm, to shoot a marauding weasel with a BB gun, and to play the violin. Together they build a crystal radio set that connects them to the wider world. The boy feels his parents' hard struggle, their longing for their motherland, even as they glory in American freedom. Along with the family fun, there is sadness and sudden catastrophe. Add this to the urban immigrant stories and the gold rush sagas and other accounts that personalize the first generation's coming to America. Hazel Rochman

A touching novel, part historical fiction and part family story, from Karr (The Great Turkey Walk, 1998, etc.); the protagonist is based on her father, whose family fled Hungary before WWI. Istv n Csere's parents immigrate to South Jersey and begin the hard struggle to make a living running a chicken farm. Istv n's first job is to baby-sit his four younger brothers and sisters. When his father goes away to work, Istv n gradually takes over. His mother insists that he continue with school, violin practice, and farm chores; in the meantime, many hardships befall them. The incubator, set too hot, kills the baby chicks after they're hatched, the mortgage man has to be dealt even though there is no money, and Istv n's mother is so homesick that she can't eat. When Apa (the father) returns, the family's life improves, but only temporarily; Apa grows sick and dies. Istv n, at age 11, attends his father's funeral and becomes the man of the family. This is a moving tribute to a fragile American family; Karr writes with feeling of the trials and tribulations their new homeland holds out, and the bittersweet triumph of their survival. (glossary) (Fiction. 10-12) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A moving father-son story.

At ten, Istvan Csere is learning from his father all about running the family's chicken farm in South Jersey. The father, a flamboyant, proud character who fled Hungary with Istvan's mother on the brink of the First World War, has great plans for his family and their little farm. And Istvan is increasingly aware of his own responsibilities in helping to realize these dreams. First steps are taken -- money is saved for an electrical generator, seedlings for a fruit orchard are planted. Then something terrible happens and Istvan must suddenly take over as man of the family, having to rely on the lessons learned from his father sooner than he ever expected. Transforming her own family history into compelling historical fiction, Kathleen Karr examines a pivotal year in her father's childhood -- a year that changed his life forever.

Kathleen Karr's previous book, The Great Turkey Walk, was named a Best Book of the Year by both School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. She lives with her family in Washington, D.C.