Roller Skates

1936 children's book by Ruth Sawyer

This article is about a book. For the wheeled devices worn on the feet, see Roller skates.

Roller Skates

Author| Ruth Sawyer
Illustrator| Valenti Angelo
Language| English
Genre| Children's realistic fiction
Publisher| Viking Press

Publication date

| October 1936
Publication place| United States
Media type| Print hardback
Pages| 186 pp
ISBN| 978-0670603107

Roller Skates is a book by Ruth Sawyer that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1937. It is a fictionalized account of one year of Sawyer's life.

## Plot summary

[edit]

Roller Skates opens with the narrator remembering a special year in the 1890s, when young Lucinda Wyman arrives at the Misses Peters' home in New York City, where the two ladies cared for her during the year of Lucinda's parents' trip to Italy. The narrator's diaries help her remember the details of 10-year-old Lucinda's "orphanage," as she calls it. Miss Peters, a teacher, is "a person of great understanding, no nonsense, and no interference."[1] Miss Nettie is shy and soft-hearted. Living with them Lucinda experiences unprecedented freedom, exploring the city on roller skates and making friends with all types of people.

Lucinda quickly gets to know Mr. Gilligan the hansom cab driver and Patrolman M'Gonegal. The first friend of her own age is Tony Coppino, son of an Italian fruit stand owner. Lucinda enlists Officer M'Gonegal to stop the bullies who knock down Tony's father's fruit stand and steal the fruit. In return Tony takes her for a city picnic where they meet a rag-and-bone man. Later Lucinda reads Shakespeare with her favorite uncle and is inspired to put on a puppet production of The Tempest.

But the cold and snow of winter keep her cooped up indoors, and eventually a restless Lucinda acts out and gets sent home from school in disgrace. Later her uncle introduces her to Shakespeare's tragedies, and she experiences her own when two of her friends die. With Lucinda's parents coming back from Italy, she realizes everything is changing, so she skates to the park one last time. "How would you like to stay always ten?" she muses. "That's what I'd call a perfectly elegant idea!"[2]

## Background

[edit]

Sawyer's family was well-to-do, and she was raised by older parents who insisted she adhere to strict rules and routines. When she was ten they traveled to Europe for the summer, leaving her with her Irish nanny and the extended family. For the first time she was allowed the freedom she longed for to explore New York City. As she said in her Newbery acceptance speech, "A free child is a happy child; and there is nothing more lovely; even a disagreeable child ceases to be disagreeable and is liked".[3] Sawyer drew on her experiences that year when she wrote Roller Skates.[4]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Roller Skates dealt with issues that were unusual for the times, including the death of two of Lucinda's friends. According to the Dictionary of Literary Biography, "juvenile literature at this time generally did not contain some of the events and behavior which occurred as natural processes in Lucinda's experiences." These experiences include "her lack of 'proper' supervision, her strange assortment of friends, and her encounter with death".[4] Critical reaction to the book was positive. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review "for books of remarkable merit".[5] Roller Skates received the Newbery Medal for 1937 for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Sawyer, Ruth. Roller Skates. Puffin 1964. p. 14.
2. ^ Sawyer, Ruth. Roller Skates. Puffin 1964. p. 186.
3. ^ Bostrom, Kathleen Long (2003). "Ruth Sawyer". Winning Authors: Profiles of the Newbery Medalists. Libraries Unlimited. p. 51\. ISBN 9781563088773. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
4. ^ a b Cech, John (editor), Dictionary of Literary Biographies: American Writers for Children, 1900-1960, Gale Research, 1983, volume 22, pp. 296;
5. ^ "Roller Skates". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
6. ^ "Newbery Awards". Retrieved May 15, 2012.

* Children's literature portal

Awards

Preceded by

Caddie Woodlawn

|  Newbery Medal recipient
1937 | Succeeded by

The White Stag

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Newbery Medal–winning works

1922–1925|

* The Story of Mankind (1922)
* The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1923)
* The Dark Frigate (1924)
* Tales from Silver Lands (1925)

1926–1950|

* Shen of the Sea (1926)
* Smoky the Cowhorse (1927)
* Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon (1928)
* The Trumpeter of Krakow (1929)
* Hitty, Her First Hundred Years (1930)
* The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1931)
* Waterless Mountain (1932)
* Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (1933)
* Invincible Louisa (1934)
* Dobry (1935)
* Caddie Woodlawn (1936)
* Roller Skates (1937)
* The White Stag (1938)
* Thimble Summer (1939)
* Daniel Boone (1940)
* Call It Courage (1941)
* The Matchlock Gun (1942)
* Adam of the Road (1943)
* Johnny Tremain (1944)
* Rabbit Hill (1945)
* Strawberry Girl (1946)
* Miss Hickory (1947)
* The Twenty-One Balloons (1948)
* King of the Wind (1949)
* The Door in the Wall (1950)

1951–1975|

* Amos Fortune, Free Man (1951)
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* Secret of the Andes (1953)
* ...And Now Miguel (1954)
* The Wheel on the School (1955)
* Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (1956)
* Miracles on Maple Hill (1957)
* Rifles for Watie (1958)
* The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1959)
* Onion John (1960)
* Island of the Blue Dolphins (1961)
* The Bronze Bow (1962)
* A Wrinkle in Time (1963)
* It's Like This, Cat (1964)
* Shadow of a Bull (1965)
* I, Juan de Pareja (1966)
* Up a Road Slowly (1967)
* From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968)
* The High King (1969)
* Sounder (1970)
* Summer of the Swans (1971)
* Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (1972)
* Julie of the Wolves (1973)
* The Slave Dancer (1974)
* M. C. Higgins, the Great (1975)

1976–2000|

* The Grey King (1976)
* Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1977)
* Bridge to Terabithia (1978)
* The Westing Game (1979)
* A Gathering of Days (1980)
* Jacob Have I Loved (1981)
* A Visit to William Blake's Inn (1982)
* Dicey's Song (1983)
* Dear Mr. Henshaw (1984)
* The Hero and the Crown (1985)
* Sarah, Plain and Tall (1986)
* The Whipping Boy (1987)
* Lincoln (1988)
* Joyful Noise (1989)
* Number the Stars (1990)
* Maniac Magee (1991)
* Shiloh (1992)
* Missing May (1993)
* The Giver (1994)
* Walk Two Moons (1995)
* The Midwife's Apprentice (1996)
* The View from Saturday (1997)
* Out of the Dust (1998)
* Holes (1999)
* Bud, Not Buddy (2000)

2001–present|

* A Year Down Yonder (2001)
* A Single Shard (2002)
* Crispin (2003)
* The Tale of Despereaux (2004)
* Kira-Kira (2005)
* Criss Cross (2006)
* The Higher Power of Lucky (2007)
* Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (2008)
* The Graveyard Book (2009)
* When You Reach Me (2010)
* Moon Over Manifest (2011)
* Dead End in Norvelt (2012)
* The One and Only Ivan (2013)
* Flora & Ulysses (2014)
* The Crossover (2015)
* Last Stop on Market Street (2016)
* The Girl Who Drank the Moon (2017)
* Hello, Universe (2018)
* Merci Suárez Changes Gears (2019)
* New Kid (2020)
* When You Trap a Tiger (2021)
* The Last Cuentista (2022)
* Freewater (2023)
* The Eyes and the Impossible (2024)
* The First State of Being (2025)

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