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Montgomery, L.M. 1921. Rilla of Ingleside.

I will try to dry my eyes long enough to type out a review that couldn't hope to do this book justice. Rilla of Ingleside is the final book in the series of Anne books. The novel is set during World War I. For those that think Anne's life was so rosy and so perfect...just consider that her children came of age just in time for the declaration of war. The novel opens in July of 1914. Within the first few chapters, Anne has seen her firstborn son, Jem, off to war. Before the novel closes, she'll send off two more of her sons: Walter and Shirley.

Rilla of Ingleside isn't Anne's story--though we do get glimpse of the fiftyish year old mother and wife--it is Rilla's through and through. Her youngest child is just a few weeks (or is it a few months?) shy of her fifteenth birthday. Her teen years will be impacted greatly by the war. She'll have to say goodbye to her three brothers, two of her childhood chums (Jerry and Carl) and her almost-sweetheart Kenneth Ford. (Kenneth Ford is the son of Leslie Moore and Owen Ford whose story we were swept away with in Anne's House of Dreams.)

What does Rilla do with her time? She doesn't go away to school (high school and college) like her sisters Nan and Di. No, she'll start a Junior Red Cross society for the younger crowd in the village. But perhaps what changes her as a person (as a soul) is when she adopts a war baby. She quite inadvertently discovers a tragic baby--just a month or so old--whose father is a soldier overseas and whose mother has just died. Too compassionate to send to an orphanage, she takes him home--and does so in style. This baby is carried home in a soup tureen. For four long years, Rilla plays the role of mother. And it does change her...and for the better.

Life on the home front worrying about loved ones far far away is hard. Waiting to hear if they're dead or alive or if they're coming home...is difficult, is life changing. War brings hardship and worry and sorrow and grief and new perspectives on life as well.

The heart and soul of this book--the sentimental details that will pull at your heartstrings is Dog Monday. Jem's dog that stays at the train station all the years while his master is away. The dog that can't be tempted or swayed to leave the spot where he lost saw his Jem. The dog's loyalty...to both Jem....and to Walter...is not easily forgotten.

Rilla of Ingleside is a fitting end to a wonderful series. Like Anne of Green Gables, it has its bittersweet moments. It's about life--the good, the bad, the ugly, the joyous, the heartbreaking. I think it's only right that both books can bring both tears and smiles.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Montgomery, L.M. 1919. Rainbow Valley.

This book in the series has very little to do with Anne and very much to do with a set of imaginative children. The Blythe children: Jem, Walter, Nan, Di, Shirley, and Rilla. The Meredith children: Jerry, Faith, Carl, Una. And the prone-to-trouble Mary Vance whom Mrs. Marshall Elliot (a.k.a. Miss Cornelia) adopts. The children spend their time (when they're not in school or church) playing together in Rainbow Valley. The focus on this one, however, is not on the Blythe children. No, the stars of this book are the Meredith children. Their father is the preacher. He's a widower. And the kids have a bit of time behaving themselves. For one thing, their father doesn't have any inclination what his children are up to. There is no structure. There are no clear rules. He's a bit of a lost soul...and very unobservant. If it wasn't for good old "Aunt Martha" then the children would be quite alone. (Unfortunately, Aunt Martha isn't that great a cook...or a housekeeper...or a nanny.)

There is a bit of romance in Rainbow Valley. A concerned citizen (any guesses who???) tells the preacher he needs to find a wife, a good woman who can raise his children because someone needs to do it. He finds the perfect woman too...Rosemary West...unfortunately their courtship isn't a sure thing because of a long-ago-promise between siblings.

Full of humor and heart, this one is an enjoyable read.

In a probaby-interesting-only-to-me note, this book was written (and published) before Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, and Anne of Ingleside. So Rainbow Valley is the novel where certain characters make their debut: Miss Cornelia starts off as Mrs. Marshall Elliot. She's still lovable. Still very funny. Still just about perfect. I wonder if the original readers of these books took great delight in going back to see what she was like in the early-days? Same with Susan Baker.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Montgomery, L.M. 1939. Anne of Ingleside.

Out of all of the Anne books--Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, and Rilla of Ingleside--this one is actually my least favorite of the bunch. Perhaps it is the fact that it was written so many years after the others. Rainbow Valley, the one which chronologically is the sequel to Anne of Ingleside, was published in 1919. (The order of publication for those that want to know is Anne of Green Gables, 1908; Anne of Avonlea, 1909; Anne of the Island, 1915; Rainbow Valley, 1919; Anne's House of Dreams, 1922; Anne of Windy Poplars, 1936; Anne of Ingleside, 1939; Rilla of Ingleside, 1944.) This one always seemed a bit tacked on to the others.

Anne is all grown up with children of her own: Jem, Walter, Nan and Di (the Blythe twins), Shirley (boy with a bit of a girly name), and Rilla, the baby of the family. Anne and Gilbert are still happily wed though we don't see too closely or intimately into their relationship. Susan Baker is their live-in helper. Part nanny. Part cook. Full-time storyteller.

The book is episodic. There isn't one narrator. The role of narrator shifts between Anne and each of her children. (I can't remember if Susan ever gets her own chapters or not.) Each child seems to get a turn in the spotlight. From baby-Rilla being frightened to walk through town carrying a cake to Jem's heartbreaking loss of his first dog. The stories are about family and friendship and at times some of the harder things in life.

My favorite sequence in Anne of Ingleside is the visit of Aunt Mary Maria, Gilbert's aunt who invites herself to stay. No one has the gumption to even hint that it's time for her to go back to her own home. But an accidental surprise birthday party does the trick just fine.

I'm not suggesting it isn't worth reading, but it doesn't have that satisfying grinning ear-to-ear something special feeling about it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Montgomery, L.M. 1922. Anne's House of Dreams.

Anne's House of Dreams is the perfect blend of bittersweet and happily ever aftering. Anne Shirley has married Gilbert Blythe. She's Anne Blythe now. (Later on she's "Mrs. Dr. Dear" but that won't be until Anne of Ingleside.) The Blythes are moving away from Avonlea and settling down in Glen St. Mary/Four Winds Point. They've got a little cottage by the sea. (There is a brook nearby so Anne is happy.) The book tells of the first few years of wedded bliss for the two. (Though the couple is not without its heartaches as they lose their first baby, Joy, the very day its born.)

Anne's House of Dreams introduces many new characters--some of my favorites I admit--Captain Jim, Miss Cornelia, Leslie Moore, Owen Ford. Marshall Elliot. Susan Baker. Who would ever want to forget their stories? Captain Jim's life-book. Leslie Moore's tragic past but enduring spirit. Miss Cornelia. She's got to be one-of-a-kind. Just a truly spirited character with so much heart and full of gumption. Practically everything out of her mouth is quotable. She sure is great at banter :)

I love this book. I do.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Montgomery, L.M. 1915. Anne of the Island.

"Harvest is ended and summer is gone," quoted Anne Shirley, gazing across the shorn fields dreamily.

I don't know if there are enough words to describe how I feel about Anne of the Island. It is one of the most magically, wonderful, giddy-making, purely-delightful, satisfying books I've ever read...and reread...and reread. Reading this book makes all the world seem right. (At least during the reading process.) It picks up shortly after where Anne of Avonlea leaves off. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe are preparing to go off to Redmond college. (Along with Charlie Sloane and Priscilla Grant who you may or may not remember.) Diana Barry is engaged to Fred Wright. And there is a hint of love in the air.

This is the story of Anne's college years; it spans four years. The books focus on her friendships with Priscilla Grant, Philippa Gordon, and Stella Maynard, her roommates. And of course the book focuses on her romantic-and-not-so-romantic dealings with men. Many men propose to Anne during the course of the book including Billy Andrews--who sends his sister in his place--and Sam Toliver with his bumbling, "Will yeh heve me?" (Charlie Sloane, Gilbert Blythe, and Royal Gardner are others.)

There are many side stories in Anne of The Island. And while these little asides and tangents are not employed much in modern fiction, within the works of L.M. Montgomery, they are so thoroughly charming that they just work well. Really really well.

I loved this one. Loved the romance. Loved the characters. Loved everything.

Here's my favorite bit of the book:

There is a book of Revelation in every one's life, as there is in the Bible. Anne read hers that bitter night, as she kept her agonized vigil through the hours of storm and darkness. She loved Gilbert—had always loved him! She knew that now. She knew that she could no more cast him out of her life without agony than she could have cut off her right hand and cast it from her. And the knowledge had come too late—too late even for the bitter solace of being with him at the last. If she had not been so blind—so foolish—she would have had the right to go to him now. But he would never know that she loved him—he would go away from this life thinking that she did not care. Oh, the black years of emptiness stretching before her! She could not live through them—she could not! She cowered down by her window and wished, for the first time in her gay young life, that she could die, too. If Gilbert went away from her, without one word or sign or message, she could not live. Nothing was of any value without him. She belonged to him and he to her. In her hour of supreme agony she had no doubt of that. He did not love Christine Stuart—never had loved Christine Stuart. Oh, what a fool she had been not to realize what the bond was that had held her to Gilbert—to think that the flattered fancy she had felt for Roy Gardner had been love. And now she must pay for her folly as for a crime. (237)

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Montgomery, L.M. 1909. Anne of Avonlea.

Anne of Avonlea is the second book in the Anne series by L.M. Montgomery. Anne has graduated from Queens now, and is ready to begin her teaching career. She'll be teaching at the Avonlea school. She is still quite chummy with Diana Barry and Gilbert Blythe. And she is almost (but not quite) just as prone to getting into trouble as she ever was.

This second book adds some great characters: Mr. Harrison, the cranky neighbor with a parrot; Davy and Dora, the twins Marilla adopts; Paul Irving, the boy-from-the-States with a big imagination and a way with words; and Miss Lavendar, the "old" maid that has spent most of her years in seclusion but who is a true kindred spirit. And it has some great adventures or "incidents" that I love. Painting the debate hall that horrid shade of blue. Prophesying Uncle Abe's "big storm." The charming love story of Miss Lavendar and Mr. Irving...in which it is shown that it is never too late for one's Prince to return and for love to take hold.

I love Anne Shirley. I love her world. I love her friends. These books are just magical.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

"We bow to the inevitable. We’re not wheat, we’re buckwheat! When a storm comes along it flattens ripe wheat because it’s dry and can’t bend with the wind. But ripe buckwheat’s got sap in it and it bends. And when the wind has passed, it springs up almost as straight and strong as before. We aren’t a stiff-necked tribe. We’re mighty limber when a hard wind’s blowing, because we know it pays to be limber. When trouble comes we bow to the inevitable without any mouthing, and we work and we smile and we bide our time. And we play along with lesser folks and we take what we can get from them. And when we’re strong enough, we kick the folks whose necks we’ve climbed over. That, my child, is the secret of the survival.” And after a pause, she added: “I pass it on to you.”

The old lady cackled, as if she were amused by her words, despite the venom in them. She looked as if she expected some comment from Scarlett but the words had made little sense to her and she could think of nothing to say. (709-710)

Changing topics now. I just want to bring to your attention one more thing. The last chapter was written first. (The first few chapters were written last.) Margaret Mitchell had in her mind how the story would end. It was these characters in this last and final state--the frustrated and pleading Scarlett and the resolute and pitying Rhett--that were her characters. Her characters just as she wanted them; just as she first imagined them. Everything that comes before is leading up to this grand emotional finale. Every scene, every conversation. All the little plot twists. All were to lead up to this. It wasn't the other way around. The ending wasn't tacked on because Mitchell didn't know where to go next. This unhappy and emotionally draining scene was her perfect ending. Which is why I find the idea of sequels so laughable. 

Bitton-Jackson, Livia. 1999. My Bridges of Hope.

My Bridges of Hope is the sequel to I Have Lived A Thousand Years. It is the middle book in a trilogy of the author's memoirs. (Though each book can and does stand alone just fine.) The book opens with Elli Friedmann and her mother and brother returning to their home town of Samorin after they were liberated by the Russian soldiers. Unlike some of the other returning Jews, they did find their home relatively intact. Stripped of furniture, yes, but still standing. The neighbors are shocked, extremely shocked to see them again. Shocked that they're living skeletons. But most of their closest neighbors are helpful. They give what they can, do what they can to make the Friedmann's home habitable again. This doesn't mean that every neighbor is this nice. And it doesn't mean that the family's possessions are returned from the neighbors who took them for safekeeping at the beginning of the war. But a few are ethical enough to return and restore.

"Out of Samorin's more than five hundred Jewis citizens, only thirty-six returned, mostly young men and women. Those who did not--our children, parents, grandparents, siblings, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and lovers--have been replaced by an abyss." (18)

Imagine that if you will. Really think about it. My Bridges of Hope tells the stories of those in between years. Those years between 1945 and 1951 when Elli was growing up in such a strange and foreign environment. It looked a bit like her old home, her old town. But so many people missing, so many new people in their place, so many strangers--the Russians, the Communists coming to town and taking over. Nothing is ever the same, nothing could ever be the same.

In these years, Elli dreams of going to Israel. At the beginning of the book, it isn't even a state or nation yet. But the dreams, the Zionist dreams, are there both in Elli and in her friends. But it is decided that America will be their destination, if they can get in.

These are years of waiting and years of growing. A turbulent time of changing for Elli as she matures from a fourteen year old girl into a young woman of nineteen or twenty. The book records her hopes, her dreams, her loves, her losses, her disappointments.

Cleary, Beverly. 1984. Ramona Forever.

"Guess what?" Ramona Quimby asked one Friday evening when her Aunt Beatrice dropped by to show off her new ski clothes and to stay for supper.

Big changes are on the way for Ramona. And it all starts off with Howie's rich uncle. Aunt Beatrice is an important-but-not-often mentioned character in the Ramona books. She was definitely a player in Beezus and Ramona. But not much has been said about her since, not really. But all that changes in Ramona Forever. You see, Aunt Beatrice will soon not be the old-maid aunt anymore. Not when she meets (and gets reacquainted with) Howie's uncle, Hobart. And she's not the only one that is changing. Mrs. Quimby is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Ramona soon won't be the baby! Shocking concept isn't it? Soon they'll be another little Quimby running around and being a pest. Yes, changes are on the way. And Ramona isn't quite sure she's ready for them all. She's grown up quite a bit, but there's always more to do!

Cleary, Beverly. 1981. Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

Ramona Quimby is eight years old and starting third grade. While in former years, Ramona was a pest--though she'd deny it to her dying day--she has in recent years began maturing, began becoming more thoughtful and responsible. That doesn't mean she doesn't slip up now and then, but it does mean she tries--really tries--to be a good girl. Ramona Quimby Age 8 is one of my favorites in the series. (Probably in the top three. Beezus and Ramona and Ramona the Pest being the top two though not necessarily in that order) Highlights in this one include Ramona taking a raw egg to school--thinking it's hard boiled of course--and throwing up her oatmeal in front of her entire class. It also includes the rather humorous adventures of Beezus and Ramona in the kitchen cooking dinner for their parents! The Quimbys are definitely quite good sports in eating "cornbread" made from cream of wheat and banana yogurt!

I love Ramona. And I love her family. The Quimbys are far from perfect, but they're so loving that you just gotta love them!

Cleary, Beverly. 1979. Ramona and Her Mother.

Ramona and Her Mother follows Ramona and Her Father. The previous book closes with the Quimby family celebrating Christmas. Ramona and Her Mother opens shortly thereafter. Ramona is still in second grade. Beezus is still in seventh. Mr. Quimby, however, is newly employed. Not happily newly employed, but employed nevertheless. His job is at the super market. It's quite understandable how doing check out isn't the career-fulfilling job of his dreams.

Ramona has grown and matured since we first met her. But trouble does still have a way in finding her. Some of my favorite episodes in this book is Ramona giving Willa Jean a box of kleenex to occupy her while the grown-ups visit. She joyfully pulls out the whole box one by one and does a little dance. Another highlight is Ramona going to school in her pajamas with her regular clothes on the outside of course.

The Quimby family is great, and I really am enjoying getting reacquainted after all these years!

Cleary, Beverly. 1975. Ramona the Brave.

Yesterday, I reviewed Ramona the Pest. I love that book. I love the illustrations. The classic illustrations. The illustrations I grew up with. The edition of Ramona the Brave that I was able to find on the library shelves was ghastly. Maybe ghastly is too strong a word. Okay, I admit it is exaggerating it a bit. I suppose it's what I can expect from HarperCollins. The publishers that removed the Garth Williams illustrations from the Little House books wouldn't bat an eye about updating the illustrations for Ramona. These new illustrations are by Tracy Dockray. And they are wrong, wrong, wrong. Mostly wrong in principle, but wrong all the same. Just a note, a rather important note: the covers that I've been pairing with the reviews are the new books with the new illustrations.

Ramona the Brave. The book in hand. "Ramona Quimby, brave and fearless, was half running, half skipping to keep up with her big sister Beatrice on their way home from the park." Ramona is getting ready to start the first grade now. Big changes are on the way, Beezus now wants to be called Beatrice. Mrs. Quimby is going to be working outside the home. (Shocking, I know. But this was the seventies.) And the Quimbys' are going to be adding another room onto the house so that Beezus and Ramona won't have to share. All that in addition to both girls starting a new school year.

A new school year, a new teacher, some old familiar classmates. Ramona wants to be a good girl. And she's going to try her best not to let Susan and her boing-boing curls tempt her into trouble. But Susan is not making it easy. Susan's prone to copy-catting and tattle taling.

First grade is not making a good impression on Ramona. And her teacher is not like Miss Binney at all. All Ramona wants is for her teacher to like her, to appreciate her, to understand her, to not label her a trouble-maker.

Drama, drama, drama. I enjoyed Ramona the Brave. Certainly some parts are memorable. Her destroying Susan's owl and then later repenting and feeling guilty. Her note to her mother gets me every time. Such real emotion. And the bit about her getting chased with a dog and making a new shoe with some paper and a stapler. Her loving Beezus' teacher? Gotta love that!

But the absolutely best scene in Ramona the Brave. The one that makes it all worth while. Is Chapter Eight: Ramona Says A Bad Word. The bad word in question. Well, I'll just have to let you see:

Ramona had had enough. She had been miserable the whole first grade, and she no longer cared what happened. She wanted to do something bad. She wanted to do something terrible that would shock her whole family, something that would make them sit up and take notice. "I'm going to say a bad word!" she shouted with a stamp of her foot. That silenced her family. Picky-picky stopped washing and left the room. Mr. Quimby looked surprised and--how could he be so disloyal--a little amused. This made Ramona even angrier. Beezus looked interested and curious. After a moment Mrs. Quimby said quietly, "Go ahead, Ramona, and say the bad word if it will make you feel any better." Ramona clenched her fists and took a deep breath. "Guts!" she yelled. "Guts! Guts! Guts!" There. That would show them. Unfortunately, Ramona's family was not shocked and horrified as Ramona had expected. (137-138)

Don't you just love it? I especially love the process of how it's resolved. "Her parents continued to sit in silence, but Ramona was past caring what anyone did. She cried harder than she ever had cried in her life. She cried until she was limp and exhausted. Then Ramona felt her mother's hand on her back.d 'Ramona,' she said gently, 'what are we going to do with you?' With red eyes, a swollen face, and a streaming nose, Ramona sat up and glared at her mother. 'Love me!' Her voice was fierce with hurt. Shocked at her own words, she buried her face in the pillow. She had no tears left." (141)

Such raw emotion that is as authentic as can be. No wonder I connected with Ramona growing up!

Burney, Fanny. 1796. Camilla.

The historian of human life finds less of difficulty and of intricacy to develop, in its accidents and adventures, than the investigator of the human heart in its feelings and its changes. In vain may Fortune wave her many-coloured banner, alternately regaling and dismaying, with hues that seem glowing with all the creation's felicities, or with tints that appear stained with ingredients of unmixt horrors; her most rapid vicissitudes, her most unassimilating eccentricities, are mocked, laughed at, and distanced by the wilder wonders of the Heart of man; that amazing assemblage of all possible contrarieties, in which one thing alone is steady--the perverseness of spirit which grafts desire on what is denied. Its qualities are indefinable, its resources unfathomable, its weaknesses indefensible. In our neighbors we cannot judge, in ourselves we dare not trust it. We lose ere we learn to appreciate, and ere we can comprehend it we must be born again. Its capacity o'er-leaps all limit, while its futility includes every absurdity. It lives its own surprise--it ceases to beat--and the void is inscrutable! In one grand and general view, who can display such a portrait? Fairly, however faintly, to delineate some of its features, is the sole and discriminate province of the pen which would trace nature, yet blot out personality.

Repose is not more welcome to the worn and to the aged, to the sick and to the unhappy, than danger, difficulty, and toil to the young and adventurous. Danger they encounter but as the forerunner of success; difficulty as the spur of ingenuity; and toil, as the herald of honour. The experience which teaches the lesson of truth, and the blessings of tranquility, comes not in the shape of warning nor of wisdom; from such they turn aside, defying or disbelieving. 'Tis in the bitterness of personal proof alone, in suffering and in feeling, in erring and repenting, that experience comes home with conviction, or impresses to any use.

The opening sentences of the book along with the opening sentences of chapter one.

Long story short:
Paragraph one: This is a story about the complexity (and some could argue the depravity) of the human heart. The good, the bad, the ugly.
Paragraph two: Some things you've got to learn the hard way. Life itself teaches and often in such a way that mere lectures cannot.

What can I say about Camilla? Really? I know so few people that would have the courage and the will to persevere through 956 pages. (Included in the page count of course are the introduction and bibliography and footnotes). But even if the length didn't throw you, the opening sentences might. The novel is both delightfully pleasant and sluggishly dull.

Short description: Camilla loves Edgar. Edgar loves Camilla. Edgar's stupidity and Camilla's naivety keep the two apart for at least to eight hundred pages.

The setting: Several locales both in town and country in England (18th century)
The characters: Too many to count. There are dozens and dozens of characters to keep track of. At least a dozen of great importance.

Camilla, Lavinia, Eugenia are three sisters. Camilla and Eugenia having the larger roles. Lionel is their brother. Indiana Lynmore is their cousin. Her brother is Clermont. Miss Margland is largely the companion/governess of Indiana. Dr. Orkborne is the tutor of Eugenia. Sir Hugh Tyrold is the uncle to Camilla, Lavinia, Eugenia, and Indiana, and Clermont Lynmore. Mr. and Mrs. Tyrold are the parents of Camilla, Lavinia, Eugenia, and Lionel. Edgar Mandlebert is the ward of Sir Hugh. He is the 'hero' of the book, I suppose. And those are just the characters who appear most readily throughout the novel. That's excluding friends, recurring acquaintances, and pursuing (or wooing) suitors.

The plot: Thinly drawn out and mostly ill-paced.

The writing: Difficult to understand at times because it is so roundabout. But it's not impossible to understand. You just can't breeze through it quickly.

The story enough in its basics is pleasant enough. But the fact that it takes so very very very long for the story to begin to happen would discourage all but the most determined from reading on through it all. The last two hundred pages of the novel have a completely different pace than the preceding seven hundred.

Most of the novel could be condensed to one or two scenes:

Imagine Camilla in the garden, flower in hand:
He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. I love him so. If only I knew how he felt about me?

Imagine Edgar, also alone, deep in thought.
I wonder if I love her. Do I really love her? Is she worthy of me? Is she what I want in a wife? I'm sure I love her. But what if I don't really love her. What if I just think I love her? I better wait and see if I really truly love her. I won't let her know that I even like her. That's what I'll do. I'll pretend to not love her. Then I'll give her lecture after lecture after lecture on how to behave. If she obeys my advice, then maybe that's proof she's worthy of me. Maybe. I just don't know. Do I love her?

It doesn't help matters at all, that both Edgar and Camilla have various older-and-wiser adults counseling them on love and marriage and courtship. Their advice often conflicts with the natural instincts of the two would-be-lovers. And because they choose to listen to other people instead of following their own hearts and minds, their story isn't a nice and lovely one told in two or three hundred pages. It's a monstrously long novel showcasing their stupidity.

It's not just a love story though. It displays the times. Social hierarchies. Social classes. Economics. And like Jane Austen (Burney was a decade or so before Austen's time), Burney writes of the marriage mart. Women and men in pursuit of advantageous matches. The conflict between making marriage a matter of the pocket-book and a matter of the heart.

Other than the fact that it was a bit slow at times, a bit melodramatic at times, a bit verbose when less would have been more, it was an enjoyable enough novel. Oddly enough, I didn't dislike the time spent reading it. It may have been slow and steady, but it wasn't badly written. It's just not a modern-enough book to suit today's taste. Camilla is naive and foolish and hesitant when she should be bold and bold when she should be hesitant. She defies when she should obey, and obeys when she should defy.

Cleary, Beverly. 1968. Ramona the Pest.

"I am not a pest," Ramona Quimby told her big sister Beezus.

Ramona is back. Originally published in 1968, a full decade after Beezus and Ramona, Ramona the Pest follows Ramona as she enters a strange, new world: kindergarten. Now five years old, Ramona is ready--or so she thinks--to conquer this thing called school. Eager to learn to read and write so she can catch up with her older sister Beezus. But what Ramona doesn't expect to be quite so challenging is the ever-going struggle to be good, to stay good through the course of a school day. Staying in her seat. Being quiet. Following the rules. Playing nicely with others. Ramona hasn't encountered much resistance. This has been Ramona's philosophy, and up to a point, it has always worked for her: "If she had to, she would make a great big noisy fuss, and when Ramona made a great big noisy fuss, she usually got her own way. Great big noisy fusses were often necessary when a girl was the youngest member of the family and the youngest person on her block." (12) So you can only imagine what a rude awakening is in store for her as she enters Miss Binney's kindergarten class.

Ramona the Pest is completely delightful. The novel is from Ramona's perspective, and she captures kid-thinking, kid-acting so authentically. Ramona and her classmates. What can I say? There's the ever-so-cute, ever-so-kissable Davy, Susan with the boing-boing curls, and Howie who is Ramona's playmate not by choice but because their parents are good friends. What I didn't realize growing up was how authentically she captures the teacher, Miss Binney.

I have so many favorite scenes from Ramona the Pest. But my favorite favorite favorite scene comes from chapter five, "Ramona's Engagement Ring." Henry Huggins, boy hero, saves Ramona and earns her new-found love and attention.

One of the things that makes these novels so charming, so perfectly delightful (besides the brilliantly witty and authentic characters and dialogue) is the artwork by Louis Darling.

Cleary, Beverly. 1955. Beezus and Ramona.

Originally published in 1955, Beezus and Ramona is a true children's classic. Beezus, age 9, and Ramona, age 4, are the stars of Beezus and Ramona. This story is told from Beezus' perspective. (I believe the others in the series are told from Ramona's perspective.) This is how it opens: "Beatrice Quimby's biggest problem was her little sister Ramona. Beatrice, or Beezus (as everyone called her, because that was what Ramona had called her when she first learned to talk), knew other nine-year-old girls who had little sisters who went to nursery school, but she did not know anyone with a little sister like Ramona." If you've read any of the Ramona series, you know what she's talking about. Ramona. That love-to-hate, pesky little sister who is always into something. She has to be one of the best-loved, most-memorable characters ever created.

In Beezus and Ramona, we see the family dynamics of the Quimby household and the tension between two sisters. Beezus is almost perpetually frustrated with her younger sister. And Ramona is well, Ramona. Prone to wanting what she wants when she wants it.

I must have read this series dozens and dozens of times growing up. But I haven't read it recently. I probably last read it in 1999. Ramona is just as great as I remembered it. Each chapter has a scene that I almost know by heart. From the opening chapter, where Ramona's fascination with steam shovels lead her to destroy a library book, to the last chapter where Ramona's imaginative "acting-out" of Hansel and Gretel leads her to bake her doll, Bendix, in the oven and ruin her sister's birthday cake in the process.

I highly recommend this series to readers young and old. I think they make especially nice read-alouds! You can read the first chapter online here.

Frank, Anne. 1952. The Diary of A Young Girl.

"You're reading that again?" That's what my mother said as she caught me reading Anne Frank. Like I haven't read anything but this one book in all these years. She's right. I have read Anne Frank's Diary of A Young Girl before. But some things are worth repeating. Diary of A Young Girl is one of them. The first time I read this book, I would have been in high school. Close enough to Anne's age to feel it--the drama of adolescence on top of extreme political and social upheaval. The Diary of A Young Girl captures both. The war. The threat of death. The threat of captivity. The threat of starvation and disease. But it also captures youth. What it means to be young, to be at that ever-awkward stage in life, in development. Always a me-in-the-making, never quite done finding out who you are and what you believe and what you want out of life. Anne could be any girl in any place and time. But because she was born a Jew. Because Hitler came to power. Her life--her perfectly ordinary life--was cut short.

The book begins in June of 1942. The last entry is in August of 1944. In these two years, these two turbulent years, Anne and her family and several other people as well all go into hiding in the Secret Annexe. Mr. and Mrs. Frank. Margot, the older sister. Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan. Their son Peter. And Mr. Dussel. Eight people. Cramped living conditions. This isn't reality tv. This is life and death. Yes, every person gets super-cranky and super-sensitive. But wouldn't you?

The reader gets a glimpse into the lives of real people through the eyes of one very young sometimes-mature, sometimes-immature girl. Anne Frank. Very famous now because of her diary. But just then--at the moment--one very ordinary girl with a natural desire to write a diary. I think most kids (or teens) at one time or another try their hand at keeping journals. Though perhaps now, blogging has replaced all that. Diaries are intimate, personal, private. Each entry is a snapshot into that one day, that one hour, that one moment. When you're young, (and even when you're older and supposedly all grown up) your mood, your outlook changes moment by moment, day by day. Happy one minute, miserable the next. Such is the case with Anne. Personally, I'm surprised that Anne had as many happy moments, contented moments, grateful moment in the Annexe as she did. I think it would only be natural to be unhappy, scared, miserable, depressed. Living in cramped quarters with people you dislike, people you disagree with, not being able to go outside, to go anywhere you want. Not having the freedom to move, to make noise when you want. To always be on alert. To always worry about the threat of discovery, the threat of capture, the threat of bombs blowing you to bits. High stress. Very high stress.

But this isn't just a book about war, about being Jewish, about being a victim. This book is so much more than that. It's a book about growing up. A book about changing from a girl into a young woman with hopes and dreams and fears and desires. It's a book about being that age. That extremely awkward stage of life. My mom thought all people of that age should be shipped off to junior high island until they grew out of it. That moody, I-hate-you, you-don't-understand-me stage. Anne was a work-in-progress. There's no doubt about it. When we first meet her, she's entering that phase of life. She doesn't get along with her mother. At all. She feels completely disconnected from her. Misunderstood. Unloved. Unwanted. Unappreciated. And her relationship with her father is better, but not perfect. Sometimes she feels the disconnect with him too. And her sister. She feels that her parents love her sister more. That her sister gets all the praise, the love, the positive attention. And she feels that she gets attacked, bombarded with negative attention--lectures, lectures, more lectures. Everyone is always out-to-get-her. But though this does seem to be Anne's story, Anne's predicament, by the second half of the book, Anne is growing, changing, maturing. She looks back over past entries and realizes that things are different, things have changed. And she realizes that most of the changes were in her. She is beginning to build, to establish a better relationship with her family. She is beginning to get comfortable in her own skin.

Anne is someone I think we all can relate to in a way. Anne was just a girl. A girl with interests and hobbies. Likes and dislikes. She could be anybody.

The Diary of A Young Girl was originally published in Holland in 1947. It was soon translated into other languages, including English, and printed in the United States. 1952 is the first publication date for the United States. Almost from the very beginning, it was recognized as a good book, a powerful book, a book worthy of time and attention and respect. But it's not without its enemies.

Though I'll never in a million years understand the mindset of those that challenge books, I'll never ever ever understand why Diary of A Young Girl is one of their targets. I just don't understand it. Can't understand it. One challenge brought against the book stated that it was pornographic. How??? Why??? Fortunately, the challenge failed, and the book stayed on the shelves. I suppose pornography is subjective. But a young girl writing about her period is so not pornographic! A young girl writing about her breasts developing? Not pornographic. A young girl writing about her first kiss? Not pornographic. There is no talk, no hint of sex in the book. Though Anne spends the last part of the book making out with Peter, the son of the Van Daans. But it's not pornographic in the slightest. Not unless it's the mention of Anne reading a book where there is mention of a woman selling her body. Or perhaps it is the conversation about the cat's male organs that is so offensive to folks? Whether the cat is a tom cat.

I could go on for hours about all the suffering the war has brought, but then I would only make myself more dejected. There is nothing we can do but wait as calmly as we can till the misery comes to an end. Jews and Christians wait, the whole earth waits, and there are many who wait for death. (64)

I see the eight of us with our "Secret Annexe" as if we were a little piece of blue heaven, surrounded by heavy black rain clouds. The round, clearly defined spot where we stand is still safe, but the clouds gather more closely about us and the circle which separates us from the approaching danger closes more and more tightly. (115)

But seriously, it would seem quite funny ten years after the war if we Jews were to tell how we lived and what we ate and talked about here. Although I tell you [the diary] a lot, still even so, you only know very little of our lives. (192)

And if I haven't any talent for writing books or newspaper articles, well, then I can always write for myself. . . I want to go on living after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me. I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. But, and that is the great question, will I ever be able to write anything great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much. (197)

I love adoption stories, especially true ones. I love being able to read about a child that truly needs a home and about the parents that truly need that child. I’ve always known that someday I would love to be able to adopt a child and when reading stories such as Lisa Bentley’s, it helps me to understand exactly what process is involved. Mind you, this book is a lot more involved than a simple adoption experience, but that makes the happy ending all the more beautiful.

When Lisa and her family are spending time in China, helping to create a new orphanage, she learns of a baby that was left in a field, severely burned and thought to die. Lisa becomes emotionally attached to the baby, whom she calls Levi and goes to incredible lengths to ensure he receives the medical care he needs, though Lisa and her husband are struggling to make ends meet themselves. They realize that he needs care in the United States, though getting Levi out of China and into surgeries when he is not their child is basically impossible, not to mention incredibly expensive.

Throughout the book, Lisa and her family fall more in love with Levi and work very hard to get him the care he deserves. Eventually they are able to adopt Levi, as well as a second child from China, and though their family will never have millions of dollars, they have a love and a bond that is unbreakable. I learned a lot from this memoir, not only about adoption, but about loving and caring for a child that will have special needs his entire life. As an expectant first-time mother, the possibility of my child being born with special needs is always there and though all mothers pray for a 100% healthy baby, that is not always the end result and loving them unconditionally is all that we can do. Lisa does an excellent job at not only chronically her story, but also being an inspiration to mothers everywhere.

I read this book for the 888 Challenge and for the Spring Reading Thing challenge.

I've finished two more for the 888 challenge, though I'm still far, far behind. My own fault for putting so many long books on there! These will be short reviews, being that most of you have already read both books. No need for lots of repetition on my part!

Being a big fan of the Percy Jackson books created by Rick Riordan, I was very much up for the mythological adventure set up by Anne Ursu in The Shadow Thieves. When Charlotte's cousin Zee comes to stay with her, all the way from England, she's hoping he might spice up her boring life with something interesting. When her and Zee become involved in a plot of overthrow the Lord of the Underworld, Hades, Charlotte begins to regret her wish. She and Zee must travel to the Underworld to stop a crazy "man" from ruining the world of the Dead, before it's too late.

The book is fast paced and cute, though it doesn't stand up against the Percy Jackson books. It is the first in a series and I will be searching for the others, as books such as these have caught my attention and I have found I very much enjoy.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodson Burnett, is a much loved favorite of so many and I'm book I'm sure all of you has read a time or two. This is probably my third time reading the book, but I enjoyed it just as much as if it were the first time I have read it.

When spoiled Mary is forced to move from her home in India after her parents die to an old country mansion in England, she is less than thrilled. She is a wretched child to her nurses and believes she should have everything handed to her on a silver platter, until she discovers a secret garden on the grounds. Mary's whole world begins to change, very much for the better. She becomes healthy, spending long days in the fresh air and sunshine and makes a couple of friends, which increase her social skills. Mary begins to find not only herself, but helps her cousin Colin become a better boy as well, not to mention her withdrawn Uncle.

The garden seems to hold all the magic of this story, though I love the characters Burnett creates. My only complaint about this book now, as it probably was years ago when I first read it, is the difficulty of reading a Yorkshire accent that Mary's nurse has. I swear it took me five minutes to read a page when that woman was talking! Maybe I just need to increase my knowledge of different dialects.

Eight books by Asian and/or Asian-American authors

1. Revolution is not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine
2. The Girl with the White Flag by Tomiko Higa
3. Yellow Umbrella by Jae soo Liu
4. Year of the Rat by Grace Lin
5. The Fold by An Na
6. The Mats by Francisco Arcellana
7. Guji, Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen
8. The Dragon's Child by Laurence Yep

For a list of potential books please see this post.

Eight audio books.

I thought long and hard about this category. A challenge is supposed to be challenging. And since I rarely listen to audio books, I thought this might be a good chance to expand my comfort zones and grow as a listener :)

1. Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
2. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
3. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
4. Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
5. The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
6. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
7. The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket
8. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank You Notes by Peggy Gifford

I own a few titles--the Little House books and the Chronicles of Narnia and both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. But the library may prove invaluable here as well as iTunes podcasts of classics. For example, almost all of Jane Austen's books are available as podcasts one chapter at a time.

8 classics by women writers (any time period pre-1950)

1. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen
3. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
4. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
5. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
6. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
7. Camilla by Fanny Burney
8. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

Right now, I'm thinking Zora Neale Hurston, Jane Austen, Kate Chopin, etc. I'm sure my list will change as I explore. But I know this is something I'd like to do for 2008.

8 Award-Winning Children's Books (Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, etc.)

1. Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field (Newbery, 1930)
2. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Newbery Honor, 1938)
3. By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Newbery Honor, 1940)
4. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Newbery Honor, 1941)
5. Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Newbery, 1943)
6. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brian (Newbery, 1972)
7. The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman (Sidney Taylor Book Award, 2008)
8. My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (Newbery Honor, 1949)

Extras: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery Winner, 1998) A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck, (Newbery Honor, 1999), A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck, (Newbery Winner, 2001)

For the record, honor books count as well in my book.

8 Nonfiction Books

1. The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
2. I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson
3. The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender
4. Painting the Wild Frontier by Susanna Reich
5. Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Loved To Draw by Deborah Kogan Ray
6. My Bridges of Hope by Livia Bitton-Jackson
7. I Will Plant You A Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman
8. The Year We Disappeared by Cylin and John Busby

My list may change, but this is what I'm planning at the moment. No promises though. :)

8 Childhood Favorites

1. Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
2. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
3. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
5. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
6. The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
7. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
8. Mandy by Julie Edwards

Alternates:

8 by Beverly Cleary

1. Beezus and Ramona
2. Ramona the Pest
3. Ramona the Brave
4. Ramona and her Father
5. Ramona and her Mother
6. Ramona Quimby Age 8
7. Ramona Forever
8. Ramona's World

8 by L.M. Montgomery

1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Anne of Avonlea
3. Anne of the Island
4. Anne of Windy Poplars
5. Anne's House of Dreams
6. Anne of Ingleside
7. Rainbow Valley
8. Rilla of Ingleside

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The application is done, and overnighted, and man, I’m having a great day. Behold:

I got an interview with a Temp agency out of the way, so that I’ll have some source of income until I find out if I get into the Institute or not.

I got together with my old costumer and she gave me this beautiful black lace dress that I wore for Arsenic and Old Lace, which means I know have a kick-ass Halloween costume for this October.

I came home to find a lovely copy of The Call of the Weird by Louis Theroux (as provided by the lovely De Capo Press) leaning against my door.

And…and…And! I now get to spend the rest of the week in Seattle, visiting an old college friend, reading my autographed copy of Midnight Brunch (you treat me so well, Marta), and exploring the city’s bookstores. Which is where y’all come in. Anyone know great bookstores I should visit in town? I welcome any recommendations.

Realize, of course, this bookstore-ing will be sandwiched between barhopping and girlie-wow-I-haven’t-seen-you-forever-ness.

All I have to do is some laundry, some packing, some bill paying and make one important trip to the post office to finally send that box of books off to Afghanistan.

Oh, and hopefully post some fun book related pictures that I took today.

So, yeah, hit me with your Seattle knowledge and have a great week if I don’t get back to you.