Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award

Seven Stories Up

on September 3, 2015
Twelve-year-old Annie is thrilled to finally have the chance to meet her estranged grandmother. When Annie and her mother arrive at her grandmother’s estate, however, Annie is devastated to learn that her grandmother is a bitter and mean old woman. When Annie wakes up the next
morning in her grandmother’s house, she is surprised to discover that she is not alone; there is another girl in the room with her. She soon realizes that she has traveled back in time to 1937, and that the strange girl is Molly, her grandmother at twelve years of age. Due to illness, Molly has been kept up in her bedroom for much of her life and has been deprived of many life experiences. But with a little push from Annie, Molly is exposed to a whole new world. The girls set off on several adventures throughout the city of Baltimore, developing a friendship that has a profound effect on both of their futures.

27 Responses to “Seven Stories Up”

  1. zace says:

    It was a great book. Especially if you like things about the past.

  2. GarnetPenguin says:

    I liked this book because Annie was so determined to turn her grandmother into a nice person, instead of a mean old woman. It would be so cool to meet your grandmother when she was a kid. My favorite character in the story was Friend the kitten.

  3. kim possible 3000 says:

    i totally LLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE this book

  4. isabelle says:

    This book gave a new side to look at life. It was a life changeing storie. If you like love, adeventure and fun.

  5. Readingisawesome says:

    This book goes over so many ups and downs, but I like this book because it has a lot of feeling. Annie is such a lively character.

  6. Brynvt says:

    One of the things I thought a lot about while reading Seven Stories Up was what information did the author have to get to write this story ? Like most authors, I’m assuming that she did a lot of research about the setting and time while writing the book. I have been wondering WHAT research she did on the book, because I think it would be interesting to learn what she learned while creating the story. If anyone knows or has an idea on what research she did, please respond!

  7. Brynvt says:

    In response to caitlincorless’s question, one thing I would have changed was a bit of the author’s wording in certain places, like maybe instead of sating ”the” in a sentence be more descriptive and say ”of the”. I only thought about this a little bit though, and actually one of my favorite things about the story is how it is written. I also think that many great stories might have a bit of weird writing, and it probably does not seem weird to the author who wrote the book.

  8. AnjaVT says:

    This book “Seven stories Up” by Laurel Snyder is really good. A reason why I liked it so much because it was humorous, like when Nora brought a bread box to Annie and Molly so it could be friends litter box, I thought that this was funny because who would use a bread box as a litter box? But then this made me think that may be they had no litter boxes for cats in the 1930’s. I normally do not read fantasy but this was so good I really liked the description that the author used it made the book way more exciting. I would highly suggest this book to really anyone especially if you love fantasy and time traveling.

  9. Aelin says:

    I feel like it was just your regular realistic fiction book. the storyline wasn’t very interesting to me and I could have picked up a random book from a random library and had the same reaction.

  10. AnjaVT says:

    SarahVT, in your comment you said that you would want to know what this book was about. This book “Seven Stories Up” is about a girl named Annie who is in a hotel which happened to be her mom’s house where she lived when she was a kid. Annie fell asleep in the room she was in and than when she woke up she was in a person’s bed. After the two of them talk they figure out that she has time traveled to the 1930s and that that person was her grandmother Molly. Together they do many fun and exciting things, and they run into lots of hard times on there way to becoming friends. I would definitely recommend this book to you it is an adventure and really exciting. You NEED to read it. Especially if you like fantasy.

  11. AnjaVT says:

    Hi IdaleeVT, I agree that this book was emotional but to me the strongest emotion was sadness. For example when Molly was explaining that she called her bedroom the lonely room because nobody ever comes to talk and the only person who comes was Nora and she would never stay. On the other hand it made me happy when Molly’s wish came true. The thing that she wished was to have Annie come not just Annie but anyone who would keep her company. I really liked this book and I agree that it had some emotions in it.

  12. hannahpeacock says:

    It is about time travel, friendship, overcoming obstacles, adventure- all kinds of great stuff. Definitely worth reading!

  13. IdaleeVT says:

    I am commenting on BrynVT. I agree that this book was easy. By easy, I mean short, and I was able to read it very quickly, but it was an amazing book and I highly suggest it. I also enjoyed the way Laurel Snyder phrased things and her technique. One of the reasons I loved this book was because what BrynVT said: the author’s description. The author used what we have been learning in class: dream the dream. Dream the dream is when the author shows, not tells, and you see a picture of the scene, in your mind. For example, one of the scenes that the author used dream the dream for was,”at last I stuck my head out the window and leaned into the muggy night. My hair whipped around. The sharp rush felt good on my face.” I can relate to BrynVT’s comment and would definitely recommend this book!

  14. AnjaVT says:

    When I was reading “Seven Stories Up” by Laurel Snyder it made me wonder what time period that I would want to travel to, because Annie time traveled. I had never thought about that except for a time machine to see the future. Annie did not even have a choice she just got put in 1937. Which is not very lucky because she did not get to have a choice. Now that I have read the book I realized that I would like to go back to the 1900’s. Because the author did a good job at describing 1937 to me and what was it like, but there is some similar things and also different things. Because when they broke the lamps Nora said that each lamp would cost about $6 now it would cost way more. Also it ts the same because there was a orphanage. That’s why I would like to go to the1900’s. Do you know where you would like to time travel to?

  15. SarahVT says:

    what is the book about it really really good my friend told me it was good

  16. IdaleeVT says:

    I am commenting on BrynVT. I also was very happy when Annie met Molly, and when Molly did time travel! I agree that this book was inspirational, and in my opinion this book made me want to read more of Laurel Snyder’s books. I was very interested when the author talked about the cultural differences from 1930’s and the time Annie grew up in. Like BrynVT, this book inspired me to study what it was like in the 1930’s. I think BrynVT’s comment was thoughtful and sophisticated! P.S. I meant to say in my other comments that this is a fantasy book.

  17. Maddison says:

    I didn’t really like it. It wasn’t something I really liked:)

  18. Maddison says:

    IT was just mot the right book for me

  19. Maddison says:

    I didn’t really like it. It wasn’t something I really liked.

  20. BrynVT says:

    I agree that this book was pretty easy for me to read,but I still think it is definitely still an exellent book!!! I liked how the narrator Annie described certain things,like for an example “carved a groove in the plush carpet”,or her asking a question to the people reading the book,like “why couldn’t I see?”.I think the author’s technique of writing makes the story a lot more interesting. I also enjoyed how much description the author uses, I think it really helps you get to know the setting and characters of the story better.The unique writing is just one of the reasons why I like this book,and Ihope many other people read it!!

  21. BrynVT says:

    I think this book is amazing and inspirational!!Like IdaleeVT, I thought it was extremely sad in the chapter where Annie first met her grandmother,because her grandma was about to die,and Annie never got a chance to know her.Because of reading that chapter,I thought this book would be about the sadness Annie felt,and I was thrilled when I began to read about how she traveled back in time and met Molly.From reading this book I was also inspired to read more books about time travel,because I found the time traveling in this story very interesting.this book has also inspired me to learn a bit more about what life was like in the 1930’s.

  22. IdaleeVT says:

    I thought this book was emotional because it was sad that the first time Annie met her grandmother it was right before she passed away. In this scene her grandmother was desperate to have Annie say that she loves her even though it was the first time she met her. This made me wish that I was closer with my grandfather and I wish he lived longer because I loved him very much! This book was also funny because when Annie would say a word that didn’t exist, Molly would say, “is that a future word?” This book was mysterious because the girls had to sneak around in the dumbwaiter at night so Molly’s dad wouldn’t know that Annie existed. This was a perfect book for me because it was a mix of all these things!

  23. IdaleeVT says:

    I read “Seven Stories Up” by Laurel Snyder, a realistic fiction book. I really enjoyed this book because it was funny, mysterious and emotional. I enjoyed how the author had a lot of detail and when I read this book I could visualize each scene! A prediction I had while I was reading this book was that Annie would help Molly not become a nasty mother and grandmother when Molly grows up. Molly is Annie’s future grandmother and Aniie knows about Molly’s future! I would highly suggest this book if you like fun, mysterious books about middle aged girls who do time travel!

  24. caitlincorless says:

    By easy, do you mean it had an easy reading level or did you feel like the story wrapped up too neatly? If you were the author, what would you change about the book?

  25. Anonymous says:

    By easy, do you mean it had an easy reading level or did you feel like the story wrapped up too neatly? If you were the author, what would you change about the book?

  26. Aelin says:

    I really like this book because of all the stories but the book is a little too easy. I really like how interesting the stories are, the author did a good job

  27. Maddison says:

    I like this book but it is a little to easy.

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