youngjoan

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Book Reviews and Synopses

Young Joan

Barbara Dana

Dana, Barbara. Young Joan. HarperCollins Publishers. New York, NY. 1991.

Young Joan is a tragic, depressing, lonesome non-fiction story by Barbara Dana. It was published in 1970. It takes place in Columbia, Ohio 1967.

A young girl named Joan ran away from home. She couldn’t stand the constant fighting with her friends and family; she just gave up. She took all her bags and left her home.

She went far, far away, and one night she found a pasture of sheep. She stayed there for a couple of nights, but the pasture’s owner, Mr. Johnson, takes Joan and makes her his slave so he will have someone to do all his work for him. She has no way to escape, and by this point all she wants to do is die.

One day, Mr. Johnson leaves the house for a few hours and Joan decides to escape. The last time she tried to run away from something, she ended up locked in a basement and being forced to be a slave. So, she decides to give up on life.

Barbara Dana’s intention for Young Joan was to have the reader never put it down, and she succeeds. The reader feel like they’re there in the story, and make it feel like there is a new surprise every page. Young Joan. Keeps the reader wanting more and more.

3 out of 5 stars.

Contributed by P. Haerr

September 18, 2011