Book Review: An Owl on Every Post by Sanora Babb

 If you ever wanted to read a book about survival in adverse circumstances, this would be one I'd recommend. 

   I am a HUGE fan of Babb.  Her work Whose Names are Unknown should get more readership and praise, and it was overshadowed by The (also excellent) Grapes of Wrath. Given that Steinbeck is such a fantastic writer, that's no problem, but it is kind of ironic that it's well known that Steinbeck used Babb's field notes while writing his classic- and didn't give her any credit.... 

  For me, I personally think both are fantastic novels, and should be taught in conjunction.  They have different styles and approaches to the topic and compare marvellously. 

But I'm here today to talk about an Owl on Every Post, Babb's autobiographical work about growing up in a one room dugout farming broomcorn.  This was a definite poverty situation, with 5 people living in a one room home.  Here's a link to what this might have looked like. 

An Owl on Every Post is considered "YA"  which I find, very strange.  It is ABOUT a young girl, growing up on the plains, but the topics, are really also appropriate for adults.  After all, we were all aged 7 at one time. This is a coming of age memoir, but not one  where Babb grapples with maturity or the challenges as such, in fact, I think she just happens to grow up in the pages of the book.  In that way, it seems less YA than many YA novels that are written to address that time of life.  Rather, Babb is describing her time of life. There's no romanticizing the harsh winters, or lack of food at times, nor the sometimes challenging isolation of the way of life chosen by her father, but there is a deep thread of resilience throughout. The writing itself is perfection- it's not flowery, or overly descriptive, but each word paints the perfect picture, and for me, I felt as if I was right there, in almost every moment. 

This book also would make a good gift for a reader you are unsure about. It's interesting, well paced and written, and doesn't moralize. Let me know if you pick this one up! 

First Published :1970

Pages: 266

Available as an Audio Book :YES

Trigger Warnings: medical situations,  poverty, hunger, child death, snakes, animal ghosts.

    Not a full TW list, please read responsibly.