Welcome to Camden Falls
Encyclopedia
Welcome to Camden Falls is the first in a series of books called Main Street
by children's author Ann M. Martin. It was published in May 2007.
), which is a nickname given to her by Flora because when Flora was young whenever she asked for something Min always said “in a minute”. Her real name is Mindy Read. Their parents died in a car accident on a frosty January evening. Flora's father had said that they could go out for pizza
but Flora wanted to finish her homework. But anyway Flora, Ruby, their mom and dad got into the car. Although, it was January and Christmas
had passed, Flora’s and Ruby’s mom had said it was the last chance for singing Christmas carols. So Ruby had shouted “Winter Wonderland”, but before she could say anything more, a truck traveling too fast for a snowy evening crossed over the center line and thundered into their car. Flora, Ruby, and her parents were taken to the hospital and Flora and Ruby found out that their parents had died. So they went to live with their grandmother Min in Camden Falls, Massachusetts
after the school year got over. There was a welcoming party when they arrived. Flora had a good friend named Olivia Walter (who is a full year younger than Flora, but skipped a grade so she is in the same grade as Flora) who lived in the same strip of row houses called The Row Houses. They also become very good friends with a girl named Nikki Sherman who lives in the other side of the town. Nikki had troubles of her own. Her family is very poor. She and her sister Mae are often made fun of on the bus because they often wear clothes with holes and they smell bad. Her dad always comes home drunk. Flora and Ruby start to stitch their lives in Camden Falls with fun, frolic and gloom.
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The novel series Main Street
revolves around two sisters named Flora and Ruby Northrop.
Flora is a shy and quiet girl with a passion for sewing whilst her sister, Ruby, has different interests. She loves to sing and dance and being in the spotlight. They two are very different sisters but love each other dearly.
( Welcome to Camden Falls )
When Flora and Ruby's parents die in a car crash, they both are sent to live with their grandmother, Mindy Davis Read, whom they nicknamed 'Min'. They both are reluctant to leave their old town to move to Camden Falls but they really have no choice. Flora and Ruby learn to adjust in their new life and they both befriend Olivia Walter, a girl who was a full year younger than Flora. Flora and Ruby go through ups and downs of their lives and they try to be friends with Nikki Sherman, a lonely girl whose family is 'broken'. As Flora and Ruby begin to put their lives back together, they discover something very important. Find out in the book!
Mr. and Mrs. Fong - A Chinese couple who expect a baby near the end of the book.
Mr. and Mrs. Willet- An old married couple. Mr Willet tries to deal with his wife's increasingly senile behavior called Alzheimer's.
Mr. Pennington- An African-American retired principal and teacher
. He has a dog
named Jacques.
The Walters- An African-American family. Mr. Walter loses his job at a computer company. Mr. and Mrs. Walter have three children- Olivia (age 10), Jack (age 8),and Henry (age 6).
The Edwards- Mr and Mrs Edwards have a son, Robby, with Down Syndrome
. He is kind to Ruby and Flora and reacts badly when teased by Lydia Malone and her friend. Later in the book Lydia starts baby-sitting for Robby
The Malones- Dr. Malone, a dentist lives with his two daughters, Margaret and Lydia. Their mother died of Cerebral hemorrhage years before. Lydia, aged fourteen is in with the wrong crowd. When Nikki is accused of stealing a necklace from 'Stuff and Nonsense', a discount store, by its owner, a stern lady called Mrs. Grindle, Lydia does not confess to having taken the jewel. After Ruby sees her steal an expensive compact from the local make-up store, 'Bubble Gum', Min and Gigi talk to her father, who makes his younger daughter repay the store owners for all the things she has taken by saving the money she earns from her new job, baby-sitting Robby. Lydia avoids her friends for the rest of the summer, and realizes how much she enjoys Robby's company.
The Shermans- Nikki lives with her parents who are described as alcoholics, especially her father who is particularly difficult and occasionally violent when drunk. She has an older brother, Tobias, age sixteen, and younger sister, Mae, age six. Their home is described as small and rundown, although not without signs of care. Stray dogs roam near the Sherman house, angering her father who labels them as 'pests'. Nikki works at the nearby farm in order to save up money to secretly buy bags of kibble so that she can feed the dogs. One dog, named 'Paw-paw', Nikki and Mae's favorite returns on a regular basis. Their home is too far from town for Nikki to walk there. Near the end of the book, Tobias fixes a bicycle
he found at the dump for her so she can visit Camden Falls when she likes.
Mary Woolsey- Mary works at 'Needle and Thread' doing the mending. There are wild rumors about her circulating amongst the children of Camden Falls- one in particular being that she keeps a small child in her basement. Mary's nickname is "Scary Mary" due to all of the rumors. Flora and Ruby are afraid of her at the beginning of the book. Then Flora finds a box in the attic with her mother's old photographs and diaries in it. She finds one photo of her mother with a young lady wearing a necklace identical to that of Miss Woolsey's. After Flora discovers that the photo is of Mary and her mother, she becomes frightfully scared of her. Later in the series Mary and Flora become good friends.
Needle and Thread
,
'Tis the Season
,
Best Friends,
The Secret Book Club
,
September Surprises, and
Keeping Secrets.
Main Street (book series)
Main Street is a children's novel series by Ann M. Martin aiming at age group 8-12. The story revolves around two sisters - Ruby and Flora Northrop who shift to a small town Camden Falls to live with their Grandmother after the sudden death of their parents. The books tell us about the girls' new...
by children's author Ann M. Martin. It was published in May 2007.
Story
The book Welcome to Camden Falls is about two girls Flora Northrop and Ruby Northrop who are ten years and eight years old respectively. Flora is very quiet and loves to sew. She likes to work in her grandmother's tailoring shop called Needle and Thread which she runs with Flora's friend Olivia's grandmother Gigi. Ruby is nothing like her sister. She loves to dance and sing. She even gets the lead role in a play. When orphaned Flora and Ruby move in with their grandmother Min (their legal guardianLegal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
), which is a nickname given to her by Flora because when Flora was young whenever she asked for something Min always said “in a minute”. Her real name is Mindy Read. Their parents died in a car accident on a frosty January evening. Flora's father had said that they could go out for pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
but Flora wanted to finish her homework. But anyway Flora, Ruby, their mom and dad got into the car. Although, it was January and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
had passed, Flora’s and Ruby’s mom had said it was the last chance for singing Christmas carols. So Ruby had shouted “Winter Wonderland”, but before she could say anything more, a truck traveling too fast for a snowy evening crossed over the center line and thundered into their car. Flora, Ruby, and her parents were taken to the hospital and Flora and Ruby found out that their parents had died. So they went to live with their grandmother Min in Camden Falls, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
after the school year got over. There was a welcoming party when they arrived. Flora had a good friend named Olivia Walter (who is a full year younger than Flora, but skipped a grade so she is in the same grade as Flora) who lived in the same strip of row houses called The Row Houses. They also become very good friends with a girl named Nikki Sherman who lives in the other side of the town. Nikki had troubles of her own. Her family is very poor. She and her sister Mae are often made fun of on the bus because they often wear clothes with holes and they smell bad. Her dad always comes home drunk. Flora and Ruby start to stitch their lives in Camden Falls with fun, frolic and gloom.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
The novel series Main Street
Main Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
revolves around two sisters named Flora and Ruby Northrop.
Flora is a shy and quiet girl with a passion for sewing whilst her sister, Ruby, has different interests. She loves to sing and dance and being in the spotlight. They two are very different sisters but love each other dearly.
( Welcome to Camden Falls )
When Flora and Ruby's parents die in a car crash, they both are sent to live with their grandmother, Mindy Davis Read, whom they nicknamed 'Min'. They both are reluctant to leave their old town to move to Camden Falls but they really have no choice. Flora and Ruby learn to adjust in their new life and they both befriend Olivia Walter, a girl who was a full year younger than Flora. Flora and Ruby go through ups and downs of their lives and they try to be friends with Nikki Sherman, a lonely girl whose family is 'broken'. As Flora and Ruby begin to put their lives back together, they discover something very important. Find out in the book!
Other characters
The Morris Family- A large family with four children, Lacey and Mathias (twins) age eight, Travis, age six and Alyssa age four.Mr. and Mrs. Fong - A Chinese couple who expect a baby near the end of the book.
Mr. and Mrs. Willet- An old married couple. Mr Willet tries to deal with his wife's increasingly senile behavior called Alzheimer's.
Mr. Pennington- An African-American retired principal and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
. He has a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
named Jacques.
The Walters- An African-American family. Mr. Walter loses his job at a computer company. Mr. and Mrs. Walter have three children- Olivia (age 10), Jack (age 8),and Henry (age 6).
The Edwards- Mr and Mrs Edwards have a son, Robby, with Down Syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
. He is kind to Ruby and Flora and reacts badly when teased by Lydia Malone and her friend. Later in the book Lydia starts baby-sitting for Robby
The Malones- Dr. Malone, a dentist lives with his two daughters, Margaret and Lydia. Their mother died of Cerebral hemorrhage years before. Lydia, aged fourteen is in with the wrong crowd. When Nikki is accused of stealing a necklace from 'Stuff and Nonsense', a discount store, by its owner, a stern lady called Mrs. Grindle, Lydia does not confess to having taken the jewel. After Ruby sees her steal an expensive compact from the local make-up store, 'Bubble Gum', Min and Gigi talk to her father, who makes his younger daughter repay the store owners for all the things she has taken by saving the money she earns from her new job, baby-sitting Robby. Lydia avoids her friends for the rest of the summer, and realizes how much she enjoys Robby's company.
The Shermans- Nikki lives with her parents who are described as alcoholics, especially her father who is particularly difficult and occasionally violent when drunk. She has an older brother, Tobias, age sixteen, and younger sister, Mae, age six. Their home is described as small and rundown, although not without signs of care. Stray dogs roam near the Sherman house, angering her father who labels them as 'pests'. Nikki works at the nearby farm in order to save up money to secretly buy bags of kibble so that she can feed the dogs. One dog, named 'Paw-paw', Nikki and Mae's favorite returns on a regular basis. Their home is too far from town for Nikki to walk there. Near the end of the book, Tobias fixes a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
he found at the dump for her so she can visit Camden Falls when she likes.
Mary Woolsey- Mary works at 'Needle and Thread' doing the mending. There are wild rumors about her circulating amongst the children of Camden Falls- one in particular being that she keeps a small child in her basement. Mary's nickname is "Scary Mary" due to all of the rumors. Flora and Ruby are afraid of her at the beginning of the book. Then Flora finds a box in the attic with her mother's old photographs and diaries in it. She finds one photo of her mother with a young lady wearing a necklace identical to that of Miss Woolsey's. After Flora discovers that the photo is of Mary and her mother, she becomes frightfully scared of her. Later in the series Mary and Flora become good friends.
See also
Other books in the 'Main Street' series:Needle and Thread
Needle and Thread
Needle and Thread is the second book in the Main Street series of children's novels by Ann M. Martin. It was published September 2007.-See also:Other books in the Main Street series:Welcome to Camden FallsTis the SeasonBest Friends...
,
'Tis the Season
'Tis the Season
Tis the Season is the third book in a series of books called Main Street by children's author Ann M. Martin. It was published in October 2007. Flora Northrop, the main character of this book, whose parents died in a car crash, and she has come to live in Camden Falls with her grandmother, Min. She...
,
Best Friends,
The Secret Book Club
The Secret Book Club
The Secret Book Club is the fifth novel of the Main Street series authored by Ann M. Martin.-Plot summary:It's summer time in Camden Falls and Flora, Ruby, Olivia and Nikki are planning what to do. But Flora, Ruby, Olivia, and Nikki don't understand it. An element of mystery is instantly added...
,
September Surprises, and
Keeping Secrets.
External links
- Welcome to Camden Falls at Scholastic.com.
- http://www.scholastic.com/mainstreet/excerpt_book1.htm to read excerpts from the official website of Scholastic and Main Street.
- http://www.amazon.com/dp/0439868793 to buy the book at Amazon