Irish Chain

"Irish Chain" centers on Rose Dunlea, a 13 year old girl living in Halifax in the 1700's. Rose lives a content life with her family, yet still has a few problems of her own. Her major struggle is her dyslexia-in those days, dyslexia was unknown so people who had trouble with reading and writing were labelled "dumb" and "slow." Rose dreads school and has already been held back twice,and is threatened to be held back yet again. Rose is friendless and picked on severely by most of her teachers. During troublesome times like these, she turns to her Irish Chain quilt, made by her grandmother, and the stories of its patches give her comfort. One day Rose prays to God that she should not have to go to school anymore. Her prayers were answered on December 6, 1917, when two ships, one loaded with explosives, crash in Halifax's harbour. The crash destroys nearly the entire North part of Halifax, and resulted in the greatest human tragedy Canada had ever seen. Throughout the turmoil,grief-stricken Rose must find her remaining family members, face the pain of loss, and gain inner strength and courage from the stories of the quilt patches to piece her life back together. A wonderful story!

When my mom got me this book for Christmas, I must admit I was reluctant to read it. I had never heard of that horrible halifax explosion, so I put it aside till Febuary. And I got right into it, believe it or not. It even got me to watch the recent documentry on the halifax explosion. The book starts off in the winter or 1917, and the main character Rose Dunlea is worrying about her problems, and wishing she was perfect. Don't we all? But her problems wasn't her wishing that she was a supermodel, like other books. True she did mention once or twice that she wished she could be a little prettier. Her problem was that she was dyslexia, and in 1917 a person with dyslexia was slow and dumb! Dyslexia for those don't know is a difference in the brain. They are as intelligent as the average person, they just have trouble with what is seen or heard. For Rose, she was the seeing problem. Numbers and letters seem to jump and move when she writes them. Her da won't let her drop out of school because he wants his kids to have the education he never had. Rose has already been held back twice and has absolutely no friends. In these times she turned to the irish chain quilt. Each patch has a story of her ancestors. These stories are told throughout the book. She wishes she never has to go to school again, or so she told God. Then on December 9, 1917, two ships crash in Halifax harbour, one of them was carrying explosives. And they explode destroying buildings and kill and wound so many. This would go down as the worst Canadian disaster perhaps ever to happen. Rose convinced that it is her fault (remember her praying to god wishing she doesn't have to go school anymore) is grief-striken. She goes around and tries to find all her family and friends. Many of her loved ones are dead, or seirously injured...but still there are some who alive. This story is a heart warming story that shows that the human spirit still endures through all catrosphes(sorry about that misspelling). If this book had any major faults, I failed to catch them. The characters were all vividly delinated(drawn)in words. It makes you cry, wonder, cheer and wish that you could shake hands with Rose Dunlea. Then again I'm canadian, so maybe this book meant more to me then it will to others from different countries.Also at the end of this book is a lovely worthwhile author's note by Barbara Haworth-Attard, photos of the halifax explosion and a step by step instructions on how to make your own irish chain quilt. Enjoy!

Barbara managed to "weave" together a very well written story of the largest man-made explosion outside of Hiroshima. Rose Dunlea is a girl living in Halifax struggling with reading skills. She prays to god that she won't have to go to school ever after being humiliated in front of the class. But when two ships collide in the harbour, an earth-shaking disaster strikes, and Rose Dunlea does not have to go to school. While plagued with grief, Rose sets out trying desperately to find the courage of her great -grandmother Rose: the creator of the Irish Chain quilt, and the missing members of her family.

When you read the first few chapters of this book you seem to think that Rose`s life isn`t too bad a little ruff aroung the edges mabye but still liveable. When tragedy strikes you become part of the story unable to put it down. I would definetly recommend this book to everyone although it might be a bit much for younger readers.