This book talks about the life of a 12-year-old girl whose name is Fanny. Her farther is an artist and is very hard to live with. His business is not going too well and he gets upset easily, particularly when he is not satisfied with his work. Fanny has always loved dogs, one night when her dad was not able to show up for his 60-year-old birthday party he brought back a Labrador puppy. However, her dad needs concentration for his work, and when the puppy began breaking things and fooling around at the house, he sent the puppy away to someone. Fanny is heart broken and misdirected her anger, frustration, and emotional outrage. One night Fanny's father comes home with another dog named Dinner. But Fanny is afraid, she worries that Dinner would ruin her dad's concentration, and he would send her away too. Soon, her father began using Dinner as the main model in his painting. Fanny understood then, that her father would never send anything away that she loves.I found this book touching in some ways. This book is very straightforward and easy to understand. It isn't a very exciting book, but it has good writings and is a worthy book to read. Though, I think the title doesn't exactly match the meaning of the story. For instance, "Her mouth was a pouty circle, and short, slitty lines served as eyes and eyelashes."The sentences are short and simple to read. This book isn't very descriptive nor complex. The sentences are also short, but it makes perfect sense. "The petals were so dark they looked black at the innermost whorl." It is in a very good writing, especially in a drama type of book.I enjoyed reading this book. It wasn't the story that interested me, but the moral of this story. Even though the story doesn't completely mean the same meaning as the title, there was a important lesson about this doll (Marie) Fanny owned. The moral of this story is not to show emotional outrage to anyone in your family. Fanny never trusted her father, and she hid her belongings away from him. I recommend this book to everyone.
Fanny is a 12 year old girl in Madison, Wisconsin. She had always dreamed of having a dog, and pleaded with her dad for a very long time to get her one. Finally, one day, her father shows up with a small puppy named Nellie, and Fanny instantly becomes attached to her. But Nellie kept ruining the furniture, the carpet, and Henry's (her dad's) art studio. On his last nerve, Henry decides to give Nellie away and Fanny is heartbroken for a very long time.A few years later, with Fanny still touchy about the subject of dogs, Henry disappears for a day and comes back with a big old dog named Dinner. Fanny is cautious with getting to know Dinner, knowing that she is probably just setting herself up for disappointment in her father again. Henry promises not to give her away ever.The title of this book, Protecting Marie, refers to a paper doll that Fanny had created when she was little, Queen Marie. Every week her father would have a "Stupid Hunt" with her to clean up her room and throw away things that were "Stupid". Fanny was terrified that Henry would find Marie and throw her away, so she had to find a new place to hide her for every Stupid Hunt. This at first confused me, because I thought that the dog should have been named Marie, but it was just a paper doll.I felt that I could really relate to this book in sooo many ways. Fanny's undying love for Dinner is truly remarkable. The ending is also a happy one, and it leaves the reader with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
What do You think about Protecting Marie (1996)?
Title:Protecting MarieAuthor:Kevin HenkesGenre:Realistic Fiction Protecting Marie takes place outside of her fathers cabin and inside her fathers cabin. The cabin is not so big They went there because they went to go and visit him cause he left them. Three days before Christmas she already knows what she wants ,she wanted it all her life she is 11 now. A dog. She wants a dog. Fanny can be a nice girl sometimes, only when she wants. When she said it her dad happy birthday old grampa he got mad at her then left the house, he was turning 60 that's why she said that. Two days before Christmas she got a dog and she named it dinner , her father gave it to her. She hates her father sometimes. She hated him so much she wanted to kill him before.(The only red balloon that she could find, pretending it was her fathers heart and then she popped it!)
—Anavey Cortez
This book was well written, but the ending was pretty lame and unrealistic. Fanny, the main character was interesting and dealing with a difficult father, who is moody, self-centered, and unthinking. She deals with this by living in fear of what beloved object, activity, or in one case, pet, he is going to take away from her. I really felt sorry for her! I suppose this would be a good book for a pre-teen to read if they were dealing with a similar situation. I don't think it does much in giving them something to help them in their real life, but Fanny does confront her father about the way he makes her feel which is a good thing. He might be all of the above, but he does love her and he listens.
—Jennifer
What is the powerless feeling of being a young girl who feels like nothing in her life is safe from being taken away? What does it feel like to be a 60-year-old father who is powerless to control the passage of time?Protecting Marie is the story of a love/hate relationship that develops between a father and daughter as a result of their fears.Thank goodness for the magic of a Shepherd mix named Dinner who bridges the gap between her owners.Here is a word to remember."That night, Fanny coined a new word, her word, a combination of eternity and infinity: internity. Internity was her name for the time of night when even the softest noise is loud, when you want to sleep and you can't, when your mind is racing and it won't stop, and it feels as though morning will never come." (p. 158)
—Shirley
