"I have half a mind to tell him I have no training and I'd rather be selling books door-to-door, or even washing dishes at Mrs. D's Kitchen in Boston, thank you very much."

Description:

Annie Sullivan was little more than a half-blind orphan with a fiery tongue when she arrived at Ivy Green in 1887. Desperate for work, she'd taken on a seemingly impossible job -- teaching a child who was deaf, blind, and as ferocious as any wild animal. But Helen Keller needed more than a teacher. She needed someone daring enough to work a miracle. And if anyone was a match for Helen, it was the girl they used to call Miss Spitfire.

For Annie, reaching Helen's mind meant losing teeth as raging fists flew. It meant standing up when everyone else had given up. It meant shedding tears at the frustrations and at the triumphs. By telling this inspiring story from Annie Sullivan's point of view, Sarah Miller's debut novel brings an amazing figure to sharp new life. Annie's past, her brazen determination, and her connection to the girl who would call her Teacher have never been clearer.

Discover what inspired Sarah Miller to write Miss Spitfire.

Miss Spitfire was published by Simon and Schuster. It was first released as a hardcover in July 2007.

Read an excerpt at the Simon and Schuster website. 

Miss Spitfire is also available in different audio formats, including cassette, CD, and Playaway digital. Special thanks to Recorded Books and narrator Terry Donnelly.

Listen to an audio clip of the book.

"To read Sarah Miller's Miss Spitfire with your daughter or your son is to discover in a fresh, new way the miracle that brought together two of history's most brilliant and stubborn women. What an amazing, revealing book. It's definitely not for kids only!"
~ Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

Booklist: "Miller's accomplished debut imagines Annie Sullivan's first experiences with her famous pupil, Helen Keller . . . In language that often reads like poetry, Miller creates a strong portrait of Sullivan's accomplishments, as well as her character - volatile, ferociously intelligent, and yearning for love and belonging, just like Helen. [ . . . ] Miller's words reach beyond the historical facts here, encouraging readers to think about the small miracles of connection they can accomplish with words every day. Photos, a chronology, and an extensive bibliography conclude this stirring, fictionalized account." (Starred review.)

Cooperative Children's Book Center: "Sarah Miller's arresting debut novel will deeply satisfy readers who already know about Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, but it will be no less exceptional to those who come to the enthralling story without prior knowledge. . . . [M]arvelously well-researched . . . In Miller's affecting, first-person narrative Annie Sullivan describes four transformative weeks full of frustration, pain, sorrow, anger, determination, tenderness and joy. Each chapter opens with an excerpt from the letters Sullivan was writing to one of her teachers back at Perkins during that time, and Miller weaves those brief lines and phrases into a richly textured tapestry of storytelling."

Kirkus: " [D]ebut author Miller nails her audience with this fictionalized account of the first few weeks of Helen and Annie's acquaintance . . . Details drawn from Annie's letters and Helen's autobiography are fleshed out engagingly in the first-person voice of Miller's imagined Annie . . . Should young readers bother with fiction in this case, when so much biographical material is available? It's hard to argue with Miller, as she sticks so close to the documented story while giving readers a good dose of the melodrama that makes it so appealing, a craving for more and the direction to find it."

Kliatt: "While [Miss Spitfire] covers much of the same storyline as the play The Miracle Worker, it is also an accessible narrative for YA readers who are unfamiliar with the story of Helen Keller and the remarkable events that led her to become a celebrity in her day. [ . . . ] Readers will appreciate Annie's devotion to her pupil and how her tenacity makes a difference in the young girl's life."

School Library Journal: "Filled with the tension, animosity, and determination that Annie Sullivan felt upon meeting Helen Keller . . . In spite of her own temper, the fierce love Annie feels, almost immediately, for Helen, is evident throughout . . . [T]his excellent novel is compelling reading even for those familiar with the Keller/Sullivan experience. Children encountering them for the first time will feel an overwhelming sense of wonder and delight when Annie helps Helen make a communication breakthrough."

VOYA: "In this debut novel, Miller departs from the known Keller story, imagining instead the emotional terrain of Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan. . . . Miller goes well beyond history. She delves into the hearts and minds of her subjects, creating realistic, believable characters. The Kellers' love mingled with despair, Annie's loneliness and her terror of failure, and Helen's frustration and the overwhelming joy of her breakthrough are palpable. Miller brings history to life."

Online reviews:
Little Willow at Bildungsroman
Becky's Book Reviews
Fuse #8 (Click here for Fuse review part 2)
Kate's Book Blog
Teensreadtoo
Interactive Reader
Jen Robinson's Book Page