Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The true story of the Dionne quintupletsthe first quintuplets to survive infancy.On May 28, 1934, five identical girls were born to Elzire and Oliva Dionne in an Ontario farmhouse that lacked central heating, running water, or electricity. The combined weight of all five at birth was just 13 pounds, 6 ounces, and their struggle to survive (as copiously reported by the press, which rapidly descended on the farmhouse) captured people's hearts in the midst of the Great Depression. Overwhelmed by publicity and in legal trouble from an ill-considered contract to display the quintuplets at the Chicago World's Fair, Elzire and Oliva turned custody of the girls over to the Red Cross, which built a hospital/nursery for them. Instead of shielding the quintuplets from exploitation (one of the reasons put forward for custody), the Red Cross instead displayed them to the thousands of visitors a day who arrived, visitors who could also buy souvenirs at several shopstwo owned by Oliva. Miller (Caroline, 2017, etc.) tells the story chronologically with a succinct perceptiveness that is riveting in its detailing of well-meaning intentions turning to exploitation, and her inclusion of dialoguedrawn from contemporary materialsand photographs delivers a fresh feel. Notably, she individualizes the girls by always referring to them by name rather than lumping them together.An altogether fresh, perceptive, well-written chronicle of this cautionary tale. (afterword, note on dialogue, references, notes, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The ‘miracle’ referred to in the title was the birth of the sisters in 1934, the first time quintuplets were known to survive. The ‘tragedy’ is pretty much everything else about their story. As much exposé as biography, Miller's book is a propulsive account of what life was like for the girls, who served as both science experiment and tourist attraction. Miller avoids a sensationalizing tone, allowing the facts to speak for themselves. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.