ALA Booklist (Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2010)

In Gee's Bend, Alabama in 1932, 10-year-old Ludelphia's mother nearly dies giving birth. Ludelphia takes off downriver to find a doctor in the town of Camden, 40 miles away, and in her first journey away from her tiny village, she encounters white people for the first time. The hardship of African American sharecropper families is always present in this stirring historical debut, and so is the rich sense of community in rough times, although that community does include sometimes malicious local gossip. Inspired by her mama, Ludelphia stitches together a quilt that tells her story, and that intricate process of quilt making sometimes becomes a too-heavy metaphor. Still, Ludelphia's voice is authentic and memorable, and Latham captures the tension of her dangerous journey and the racism she encounters when a white, mentally disturbed landowner's widow takes everything from the sharecroppers as repayment for their debt. In a final note, Latham talks about the history of Gee's Bend and its rich quilting traditions.

Voice of Youth Advocates

ôMama always said every quilt tells a story,ö ten-year-old Ludelphia Bennett says. When Mama gets sick and Daddy becomes distracted with taking care of her and their newborn daughter, Ludelphia slips away from home determined to travel forty miles from GeeÆs Bend, Alabama, to Camden where she hopes to find Doc Nelson willing and able to save Mama. As Ludelphia travelsùarmed with needle, thread, and the beginnings of a quiltùshe is faced with one obstacle after another before she finally makes it to Doc NelsonÆs home. Although Mrs. Nelson is in the middle of conducting a Red Cross Drive designed to help those suffering during the depression, she still manages to make Ludelphia feel at home and tries to console her when Doc Nelson says Mama probably has pneumonia, a disease he cannot treat. An authorÆs note explains that Latham, influenced by her love of textile art, became fascinated by GeeÆs Bend and its renowned quilts. Some readers might enjoy this coming-of-age tale set in a rural community featuring a spunky girl with one eye. Omight have trouble connecting with Ludelphia because her closest friend is a mule named Delilah, and she has never had a Coke. Much of the book seems contrived, especially the secondary plot involving accusations that LudelphiaÆs neighbor, Etta Mae, is a witch and the story line that involves Mrs. Cobb, the woman who owns the land LudelphiaÆs family and friends work on.ùKaaVonia Hinton-Johnson.

Kirkus Reviews

In 1932 Gee's Bend, ten-year-old Ludelphia thinks clearest while stitching, so when her mother becomes deathly ill, Ludelphia takes along a quilt top as she crosses the river to get help. She is oddly fixated on her stitching and delays her life-saving journey repeatedly to work the quilt, even to the point of incorporating her pocket in it, which requires her to carry it in her hand for the rest of the trip. Though it seems Latham is trying to develop an engagingly absentminded or single-minded character, Ludelphia comes off instead as dense, and the constant returning to the quilt is an authorial artifice. The story depends on Ludelphia's development and voice to carry it, other characters and the setting remaining one-dimensional. The author describes being inspired to tell this story after seeing the exhibit "The Quilts of Gee's Bend" and notes sources for her research. She's taken liberties in depicting real people and events, which is permissible in fiction, but still regrettable when done poorly. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

School Library Journal (Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2010)

Gr 4-6 Blind in one eye and shouldering a fair share of work as part of a family of sharecroppers, 10-year-old Ludelphia Bennett is no stranger to hardship or determination. Though her small town of Gee's Bend is geographically isolated by the Alabama River, she sets off on her own to Camden, 40 miles away, to find a doctor for her sick mother. Constant throughout her arduous journey is a stitched-together fabric, and she both physically and mentally chronicles her experiences as she pieces a quilt together. This is the way Ludelphia tells her story, of seeing white people for the first time, of encountering kindness and hate, and it is also the way Latham pays homage to the community spirit that historically fostered a heritage of artisan quilt-makers. While there is a bit of a reliance on coincidence, what shines through is the characterization and sense of place. Rural Alabama of 1932 is brought to life, complete with characters' prejudices and superstitions that are eventually overcome thanks to Ludelphia's indomitable strength. Here is a story that is comforting and warm, just like the quilts that make Gee's Bend famous. Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Debut author Latham offers an accessible piece of historical fiction, drawn from the real-life quilting traditions of Gee’s Bend, Ala. Ludelphia Bennett—a strong-willed 10-year-old living in the small sharecropping community in 1932—may be blind in one eye, the result of a wood-chopping accident, but she both adores and excels at quilting. “Mama always said you should live a life the same way you piece a quilt,” she says. “That you was the one in charge of where you put the pieces. You was the one to decide how your story turns out.” When her mother falls ill, Ludelphia takes off for Camden to find medical help, while trying to avoid Mrs. Cobb, the widow of the sharecroppers’ boss, who has become unstable after the deaths of her husband and niece. Latham offers numerous heart-stirring moments, though while her story is heartfelt, several characters feel lacking in depth and complexity. Ludelphia is a determined heroine, but her internal monologue—“Mama, if this here needle can make it across the Alabama River, you can make it too”—tends toward the treacly. Ages 10–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Jan.)