Classics and other Old Books
The Inheritance
by Louisa May Alcott
The first novel ever written by Louisa May Alcott (of Little Women fame) when she was seventeen years old. It was never published until the 1990s. It is a Gothic romance novel -- poor orphan girl taken in by a wealthy English family, only to find out later that she is the true heir to the family's fortune. With its one-dimensional characters and sentimental plot, it's not up to the quality of Louisa's later novels. It seems like the kind of story Jo March wrote in Little Women. It was interesting to read in that light, and to compare it with class-conscious view of marriage depicted in Jane Austen's novels. It was also enlightening to read it at the same time I am working through Northanger Abbey, in which Jane Austen parodies and mocks the gothic novel style.
Biography
Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels
by Deirdre La Faye
While not strictly a biography, this book does give an overview of Jane Austen's life, as well as the historical and social background of her novels. It really helped give me some context to better understand her novels. The first half describes her world -- what was happening in her family, England, and the world as a whole and how it influenced her and her novels. The second half goes through each of her novels, summarizing the stories and putting them into their context as described in the first half. Very enlightening to me. Made me want to go back and read all her novels again.
The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible ... on Schindler's List
by Leon Leyson
A memoir of a boy who survived the Holocaust because he was on Oskar Schindler's list of Jews he was trying to protect throughout the war. I've been reading a number of World War II books, and this was a worthwhile one. I would recommend it for teens. Of course, it contains hard stuff about the way Jews were treated, but it's not overly graphic. He seems to come out of his experiences without a lasting hatred and bitterness (at least that's not expressed in the book), but there is no mention of God or faith in him.
Joseph Haydn: the Merry Little Peasant
by Opal Wheeler
A children's biography of George Fredrich Handel. We read this one aloud, complete with excerpts from some of Haydn's works, as part of our music appreciation studies. We also enjoyed listening to some podcast episodes about Haydn from Classics for Kids.
Mozart the Wonder Boy
by Opal Wheeler
A children's biography of Wolfgang Mozart. We read this one aloud, complete with excerpts from some of Mozart's works, as part of our music appreciation studies. We also enjoyed listening to some podcast episodes about Mozart from Classics for Kids.
History and Historical Fiction
Lewis and Clark
by George Sullivan
A short chapter book which tells the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, making use of quotes from their journal entries. We read this aloud, and some of my older kids were quite amused by their (mis) spellings.
Lily's Crossing
by Patricia Reilly Giff
I saw in a news article that the author died last year, and it mentioned this Newbery book she had written. Lily lives in America during World War II and has a problem with habitual lying. She is also disrespectful to her grandmother. She's not much interested in what's going on in the world ("who cares what happened on the beach at Normandy") until her father is sent overseas as an engineer to help rebuild and her friend's brother goes missing during the D-day invasion. While on summer vacation at her grandmother's beach house, she meets a neighbor's nephew who is a refugee from Hungary. His parents were killed for operating a resistance newspaper, and his sister was left behind in France because she was ill with the measles. He is determined to find a way back to France to find her. Because of Lily's lies, he makes a dangerous attempt to reach a ship that might be headed for Europe. Lily comes to see the destructiveness of her lies and for the sake of her friend has the courage to confess and reform (stop lying). This World War II book had a different perspective that most -- that of a child in America, not directly affected by bombings, persecution, starvation or cruelty. It's good that lying is portrayed as negative, but the issue of disrespect is not dealt with. There are a couple of uses of "damn." I never did figure out what the title meant.
Inspired by schoolwork
Banner in the Sky
by James Ramsey Ullman
My high schoolers read a short story ("Top Man") about mountain climbing by this author. The background information in our literature book noted that he had written several novels, including this Newbery Honor book. It's about a 16-year-old boy, son of a famous mountain guide, living in a community of guides who lead climbers up various mountains in Switzerland. He longs to be a guide also and has much natural ability, but since his father died on a climb before he was born, his mother and uncle refuse to let him. There is one mountain in the area that has never been conquered, the Citadel, the mountain on which his father died. The boy dreams of scaling the mountain and planting his banner (his father's red flannel shirt) on its summit. It's a fascinating story, with all kinds of conflict (man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. himself), much suspense, realistic details about climbing mountains, and excellent character development. .... becoming a man... When I finished it, my reaction was, "That was a GOOD book." There are a few uses of "damned" and using "God" as an exclamation of frustration or anger. I strewed this one, hoping my teens would pick it up and read it. Sadly, they didn't. They don't know what they're missing.
In "Neighbor Rosicky", the husband couldn't be more different. He works hard on his farm, but is always looking out for the comfort and welfare of his wife, grown children, and daughter-in-law. He is grateful for everything he has, especially for the privilege of living on his own land. He doesn't care about "getting ahead." He's content with having enough to be comfortable and having enough to share with others. These two stories were quite a contrast: the first one sadly reminds me of the husband of a friend of mine, while the second one reminds me of my own husband. And that makes me take more care to be grateful (and to express that appreciation) for the way my husband treats me and our family.
You can read these stories free online. Click on the titles above.
Just For Fun (for me)
Just For Fun (read-aloud)
A Bride for Donnigan
by Janette Oke
Kathleen O'Malley agrees to become a "mail-order bride" for an American farmer named Donnigan Harrison. They work through communication issues at the beginning of their marriage, raise a large family, and search the Bible for answers to their questions about life and the afterlife.
The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found
by Karina Yan Glaser
The fourth book in the series about the Vanderbeeker kids who live in Harlem and continuously concoct outlandish plans to save their friends and neighbors. This one is a bit heavier than the others, in some ways, as it deals with the death of one of their elderly neighbors and friends as well as the abandonment of their friend Orlando by his mother. There were parts that were well written, but toward the end it just seemed kind of rushed, shallow, and improbable. Even more than in the other books, there are budding romantic attachments and dealing with feelings of jealousy among some of the high schoolers.
Falling Up
by Shel Silverstein
A collection of Silverstein's poems. Some are funny and cute, some are not, and some are rather crude. I read it after one of my kids checked it out of the library. My favorites were the one about the pet snowball that ran away one night -- after first wetting the bed -- and the one about the new pet dog who was determined to defend the family's Christmas tree and stockings against the fat stranger in a red coat with his funny looking horses.
Bigby Bear
by Philippe Coudray
A collection of four-panel cartoons featuring a bear and his forest friends. Read this after one of my younger kids got it from the library.
Geography (read-aloud)
Soccer Fence: A Story of friendship, hope, and apartheid in South Africa
by Paul Bildner
A young black boy, who loves to play soccer (barefoot, with a beat-up, misshapen ball), watches through a fence as a group of white boys plays (with all the gear and a shiny new ball). He longs to join them, but they ignore him when he greets them. Years later, apartheid is officially ended, but change is slow to happen. Finally, the boys are united in their support of the South African soccer team made up of both blacks and whites.
My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me
by Maya Angelou
Through pictures and words, a young Ndebele girl gives the reader a tour of her family and life in South Africa.
Inky the Octopus
by Erin Guendelsberger
A rhyming story, based on actual events, of an octopus in a New Zealand aquarium. One night when the lid of his tank is left partially open by mistake, the octopus escaped, and disappeared down a drain hole that led to the ocean.
Mister Whistler
by Margaret Mahy
A picture book set in and published in New Zealand. Mr. Whistler gets dressed to travel by train to visit his aunt. When he places his ticket in his teeth to hold on to it, he gets distracted by the song in his head. He goes through his clothes, piece by piece trying to find it, entertaining the watching crowd with his dancing. Caution: one page shows him in his underwear.
Just For Fun (read-aloud)
Three Favourite Animal Stories
by Jill Tomlinson
Includes The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, about a baby barn owl named Plop who doesn't want to be a night bird because he is afraid of the dark. His mother says it's because he doesn't know about the dark and encourages him to find out more by talking to the various humans who pass under their tree. The second story is The Cat Who Wanted to Go Home about a French cat who accidentally gets transported to England via hot air balloon and eventually figures out a way to get back to her family in a fishing village in France. The last story is The Hen Who Wouldn't Give Up about a broody hen who wants a family and has to outwit her humans in order to get it. My eight-year-old begged for more of these stories every night.
