A heartwarming coming-of-age story set in the rural South. With her friend Missy Violet away in Florida, Viney has big shoes to fill. While there are ailing neighbors to comfort, Viney’s favorite teacher has left school—and Viney’s irrepressible cousin Charles continues his mischief-making. Through short, powerful vignettes and letters between Missy Violet, Viney, and others, the day-to-day happenings in this warm southern town come to life.

Letters to Missy Violet

Children's Books

Hathaway, Barbara

Literature & Fiction

HMH Books for Young Readers

Missy Violet and Me

The summer that Viney is eleven years old is extraordinary. It takes her out of school and puts her under the wing of Missy Violet, a well-loved midwife whose wise and warm ways help teach Viney about the business of catchin’ babies. Suddenly, Viney must learn about roots and herbs and their medicinal purpose, understand the contents of Missy Violet’s “birthin’ bag,” and contend with a snooty peer and wild, irrepressible cousin—Charles Elister Paxton Nehemiah Windbush. And all this before she actually helps to deliver a single baby! At turns scary, funny, and exhilarating, the rhythm of Viney’s rural life in the South quickens as she embraces her apprenticeship and finds her own special place as Missy Violet’s “best helper girl.” Hot jiggetty!

Winner of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award “This appealingly nostalgic tale conveys the tenor of the time as well as the affable narrator’s growth during one momentous summer.”—Publishers Weekly “Realistic and exciting. . . . Great for reading aloud.”—Booklist The summer that Viney is eleven years old is extraordinary. It takes her out of school and puts her under the wing of Missy Violet, a well-loved midwife whose wise and warm ways help teach Viney about the business of catchin’ babies. At turns scary, funny, and exhilarating, the rhythm of Viney’s rural life in the South quickens as she embraces her apprenticeship and finds her own special place as Missy Violet’s “best helper girl.”

Biographies

Clarion Books

At turns scary, funny, and exhilarating, the rhythm of an 11-year-old girls rural life in the South quickens as she embraces her apprenticeship to midwife Missy Violent, and finds her own special place as Missys best helper girl. Winner of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award.

Perfection Learning

Julius Stone: A Bio Bibliography

Univ of Texas at Austin Tarlton

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hathaway, Barbara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hathaway, Barbara

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hathaway, Barbara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Letters to Missy Violet

Missy Violet and Me

Missy Violet and Me

Missy Violet and Me

Julius Stone: A Bio Bibliography