Water Street

Water Street

By Patricia Reilly Giff

 

 

Bibliography:

Reilly Giff, Patricia. Water Street. New York: Yearling, 2006.  ISBN:  978-0440419211

Plot Summary and Critical Analysis:

Water Street by Patricia Reilly Giff is a coming of age tale set in 1875 Brooklyn against the backdrop of the construction of The Brooklyn Bridge.  Bird Mallon, a young girl who wants to become a healer/midwife like her mother is excited that there is a vacant apartment upstairs in her building and she hopes that another girl will move in and be her friend.

Instead Thomas Neary and his constantly drunk father move into the apartment with a view of the rising towers of the bridge being built to connect Brooklyn to Manhattan previously connected only by a Ferry that would get stuck in the frozen water of the East River during winter.  Bird’s father works at the construction site, as did her brother Hughie, until Hughie became ill with Caisson disease, or decompression sickness, from working deep underwater on the bridge caissons.

Thomas, a boy without a mother, who has moved frequently because his father is often drunk and can’t hold a job wants to write.  That’s all he wants.  Everything else pales compared to his desire to create new places and situation to which he can escape.  Though Bird wished for a girl to move in, she and Thomas become great friends as he shows her the job of reading and she shows him the joy of family, even when it’s messy and complicated. 

Thomas, Bird, and the other characters are vividly drawn, each with his or her own problems, hopes and desires.  Bird’s sister Annie believes that she is plain and will never find happiness and start a family of her own, her brother Hughie, who can no longer work, is angry and participates in illegal fight matches, and her mother Nory, the healer is training Bird to be a healer one day herself.

All of the characters are relatable and their problems: self-esteem, economic anger, poverty, and just growing up will resonate with children reading the book.  Their problems are not unique to the place and time of the setting of the book, but they are made more urgent because of the time and place.

The history in book is presented accurately as Thomas and Bird discuss the bridge and how it came into being.  Their conversations contain actual facts about the bridge and its construction.  Water Street and Brooklyn become a separate character in the book with Giff’s vivid descriptions of the sounds, sights and smells of the street having a life of their own outside of Thomas and Bird and her family.

The setting and historical information are integrated seamlessly into the book and serve to move the story along, never overwhelming the reader or the story itself.  The characters live in this time and place, but the story is about the people rather than the location and time period.

The story reflects the attitudes and thoughts of the time.  Poverty is seen as a given, especially among immigrant families such as Bird’s and yet poverty is never allowed to overwhelm the love and concern that the family has for each other and comes to have for Thomas.  Bird is industrious, works very hard at her mother’s side caring for the sick until she sees something disturbing and fears she’ll never be able to be brave enough to confront the suffering of others and to be of help.  Thomas longs for a family and doesn’t know why he doesn’t have a mother until late in the story, a revelation that changes Thomas’ attitude about his father, his mother, and his relationship with the Mallon family.

As the year covered in the story comes to an end, Thomas has grown and prospered at his new school and has become the Valedictorian, while Bird has confronted her fears and realizes that she can be a healer and help ease the suffering of others.   Giff weaves all of these changes into a lovely little look at the lives of two families, one whole, one broken, who come together over the love of their children, and as is the dream of every immigrant family, both Thomas and Bird grow up to have greater opportunities than did their parents because their parents were willing to sacrifice for them to have those opportunities.

Perhaps everything is wrapped up package that is slightly too tidy, and yet still resonates with emotion.  More than the story of Thomas and Bird, more than the story of Water Street, more than the story of the building of the bridge, this is a story about the immigrant experience in America with all of its opportunities and obstacles, and is wonderfully drawn by Ms Griff.

Review Excerpts:

This heartwarming novel continues the saga begun in Nory Ryans Song (Delacorte, 2000) and Maggies Door (Random, 2003). With the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge as background, the story is told from the alternating perspectives of Bridget (Bird) Mallon and Thomas Neary, from the time that they are nearly 13 until they are 14. Bird is the youngest child of Nory and Sean Mallon, who came from Ireland to Brooklyn to escape the poverty and hopelessness of the potato famine. Thomas moves with his father into the tenement where the Mallons live. Mr. Neary spends most of his time at a neighborhood pub, and where the boy’s mother is remains a mystery for much of the book. A strong friendship develops between the young teens. The creation of the bridge looms as a dream that parallels the dreams of the characters. Bird, a bright, sensitive girl, wants to follow in her mother’s path and become a healer, but she discovers that the road is not without obstacles. Thomas dreams of becoming a writer and of having a family like the Mallons. Though the plot is somewhat predictable and the likable characters are a bit stereotyped, Giff masterfully integrates the historical material and presents a vivid picture of the immigrant struggle in the 1870s. – School Library Journal

Continuing the Irish American immigration story begun in Nory Ryan's Song (2000) and Maggie's Door (2003), Giff's new novel, set in 1875, is about the next generation. Nory and Sean's daughter, Bridget ("Bird"), 13, befriends a lonely boy, Thomas, who lives upstairs with his father in Brooklyn. From their tenement windows they can see the building of the bridge and the structure's great towers. Bird's dad has a job there, and the construction is both fact and metaphor. Bird would like to be a nurse-midwife like Mama, but the work is sometimes hard and scary. The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Bird and Thomas; Bird's loving family takes Thomas in, and the two young people help each other at school and on the street. The happily-ever-after ending never denies the harsh struggle; the memory of what drove them from the Old Country is always there, as is the mantra "We have to better ourselves." A poignant immigration story of friendship, work, and the meaning of home. – Booklist

Connections:

Have student’s discuss the American Immigrant experience, especially the Irish-American immigrant experience and the Potato Famine in Ireland.

Have student’s build a scale model of the Brooklyn Bridge with its grand towers and long spans.

Read and discuss midwifery, or healing, as practiced by Bird’s mother Nory.  What was the purpose of such healers and why did immigrants often use them instead of physicians.

Discuss the process of writing and have students write their own short stories set in the past, making sure to emphasize accuracy, research, and story above all else.