A Piece of the World

By Mildred Walker

Book Overview

When Calder Bailey's parents divorce and her mother needs some time to put her house in order, Calder is dismayed to learn that she's expected to leave her California neighborhood to stay with her grandmother in Weldon, a village in Vermont. When Calder discovers a mysterious rock, an enormous green and strangely shaped serpentine boulder in the deep woods above town, she is drawn into friendships with Walt, a boy whose family owns the rock and the property it sits on, and with Mr. Cooley, an elderly traveler and retired professor of geology staying at the local inn. These friendships are tested, as is Calder's delicate sense of belonging, when it becomes apparent that Walt's ailing father, Calder's grandmother, a rich out-of-towner, and the Weldon Development Society all have plans for the boulder. A sensitive story about the small and large accommodations of getting along in life, growing up, and finding a place to call one's own, A Piece of the World possesses the quiet intensity and lasting charm of Mildred Walker's best work.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803298234
• ISBN13: 9780803298231
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A beautiful title and a sweet story.

At the start of A PIECE OF THE WORLD, a 12-year-old girl named Calder is sent to live with her Grandmother in Weldon, Vermont. Calder's mother needs time to herself; she and Calder's father have just gotten a divorce. At first look, Weldon is horribly boring for Calder and so she decides to go on a hike to see some local scenery. It is then that she discovers a giant boulder set deep in the woods. She later learns that the rock is actually a serpentine boulder, which broke off from a giant glacier hundreds of thousands of years ago. Soon Calder becomes friends with a boy her age named Walt, whose father owns the wooded property, and Mr. Cooley, a kind old man and a retired geologist. Together, they try to save the rock from a rich man who wants to buy it, and from the Weldon Development Society, who want to turn the area into a tourist attraction.A PIECE OF THE WORLD, with a beautiful title and a sweet story, is simply written with memorable character. It is a very touching story with a satisfying ending. There are a few black and white drawings of some of the characters and scenery. A little old-fashioned, the novel's themes of friendship and ecological concern are still universal. Reviewed by Jean, student and reading diva

Mildred Walker is simply one of the best authors ever...

Mildred Walker wins my heart again with her story, "A Piece of the World." While my favorite is "Winter Wheat", this book stirs the heart. I want to reach in there and solve all the problems that are going on in the story, but alas, I cannot, so I eagerly turn the pages to see how Mildred Walker spins the story and am satisfied with the results. I am going to order more of her books and absorb myself in them.