Title: Anne of Green Gables

Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Pages/Format: 429/E-book

What I Thought: Anne of Green Gables is a great book.  It’s about an orphan named Anne who goes to live with Marilla Cuthbert and Matthew Cuthbert, who are brother and sister. 

I think Anne is my favorite character- she’s so talkative and imaginative, and I couldn’t help but want things to go well for her.  Being an orphan, and then coming to Green Gables only to find out that the Cuthberts wanted a boy…it was sad.  But it all works out, because Anne gets to stay at Green Gables.  Avonlea is a fictional town, but I so want to stay in a place like that.  Anne did ramble on quite frequently, but since she talks all the time, it was to be expected.   

I also had a soft spot for Matthew Cuthbert- he couldn’t bring himself to send Anne back, and they complement each other really well.  While Anne talks a lot, Matthew is really quiet and shy.  And the scene where he got Anne a dress with puffed sleeves is one of my favorites. 

And when Matthew died, I was so sad!  I loved that Anne decided to give up her scholarship by staying at Green Gables with Marilla, so she wouldn’t have to sell the farm.  That’s devotion right there.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.  I liked it, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

Title: Call of the Wild

Author: Jack London

Pages/Format: 172/E-book

What I Thought: Call Of The Wild is about a dog named Buck who is sold to 2 French-Canadians and is shipped off to Alaska.  He is trained to be a sled dog, but is eventually sold to another couple who know nothing about sledding or living in Alaska.  They come across a man named John Thornton, who ends up keeping Buck.  However, while Thornton is searching for gold, Buck explores the surrounding wilderness, and comes back to camp one day to find that Thornton and the others in the camp have been killed, so he gives into his instincts and ends up killing the Yeehat Indians as revenge for killing Thornton. 

I couldn’t get into it at all.  I was bored reading it, and found myself reading parts of it several times because I couldn’t pay attention to it.  While I found the perspective interesting (it was told from the point of view of Buck), it wasn’t enough to make me like it. 

Rating: 1 out of 5.  I couldn’t get into, and I was bored reading it.

Title: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Author: Kate Douglas Wiggin

Pages/Format: 327/e-book

What I Thought: Rebecca Randall goes to live with her two aunts, Jane and Miranda, in order to help out her family.  She lived on the family farm, but the family was poor because of the family falling on some hard times.  Rebecca’s father had been dead for 3 years at the beginning of the novel, the farm itself was being mortgaged, and Rebecca’s mom had trouble feeding the entire family (Rebecca, her 6 siblings and the mom). 

Rebecca was sent to live with her aunts so that there would be one less mouth to feed, and so that she would get the chance to improve her life.

Along the way Rebecca meets characters like Emma Jane, Jeremiah and Sarah Cobb, and Adam (or Mr Aladdin as Rebecca calls him).  She goes to school, with a talent for writing, and does very well in her English classes, going on to graduate from high school. 

I love how imaginative and creative Rebecca is, despite the fact that she comes from an impoverished background.  She’s also high-spirited, which is something that stays with her, even as she matures into a young woman. 

She tries to please her aunt Miranda, and wants her approval, but still finds it hard to live up to her aunt’s high standards.  Rebecca does brighten aunt Jane’s life because of her curiousity and because of her liveliness.  Both Jane and Miranda do their best to make sure Rebecca becomes a proper young woman by teaching her how to sew and cook, as well as other household skills. 

In the end, it seems like Miranda is fond of Rebecca, at least to a degree, because when Miranda dies, she leaves the house to Rebecca.  Because of Miranda’s will, Rebecca can be independent and help out her family.       

Rating: 4 out of 5.  It was a great book, and it was nice to see how Rebecca changed over time, and yet still was an imaginative and spirited person.

Title: A Swiftly Tilting Planet

Author: Madeleine L’Engle

Pages/Format: 256/paperback

What I Thought: A Swiftly Tilting Planet is another book in Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time series.  There are 4 books in the series, although there is a 5th book that is sometimes included.  A Swiftly Tilting Planet is the 3rd book in regards to publication, but is the 4th chronologically. 

Anyway, it was still a very enjoyable read, and the story continues with the threat of nuclear war from dictator Mad Dog Branzillo.  It is up to Charles Wallace to go back in time, and prevent disaster.  Meg helps Charles Wallace by kything.  Calvin, while not making an appearance in the novel, is still mentioned, and we learn that Calvin and Meg are married with Meg expecting their child.  Calvin’s absence is explained by him giving a conference in Great Britain.

Charles Wallace goes out to the family star-watching rock and recites Patrick’s Rune, which he learned from Calvin’s mom.  He comes across a unicorn named Gaudior, and they go back in time in order to prevent a nuclear disaster.  Charles Wallace changes key events (or might-have-beens), in the lives of Branzillo’s ancestors. 

Along the way, the ever present Echthroi try to threaten the work Charles Wallace is doing.  While Charles Wallace is trying to change the future for good, the Echthroi are trying to change the future for evil. 

I wasn’t surprised that in the end, nuclear war was preventing by Charles Wallace changing the might-have-beens.  Branzillo ends up being a peaceful man instead of a South American dictator.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.  It definitely kept up in the spirit of A Wrinkle In Time and A Wind In The Door.  It was an enjoyable and quick read, and it was nice to see the entire Murry family as well as Calvin’s mom.

Title: A Wind In The Door

Author: Madeleine L’Engle

Pages: 203/Paperback

What I Thought: A Wind In The Door is the sequel to A Wrinkle In Time.  In A Wind In The Door, Echthroi are destroying Charles Wallace’s farandolae, so Meg and Calvin travel to Charles Wallace’s mitochondria with Proginoskes (who is a cherub).  They also come across Blajeny and Louise the Larger (a snake)- both Blajeny and Louise are Teachers.  Good vs Evil is a prominent theme in A Wind In The Door, much like A Wrinkle In Time.  However, in this novel, it’s on a much smaller scale.  It also shows how even the smallest of things can have an impact on the universe. 

I loved how Meg looked past her initial thoughts about Mr. Jenkins, and started to care for him in order to name him.  I also loved how she went from resenting him and seeing him as a not-so-good guy to appreciating him.  That definitely goes with the whole looking beyond 1st impressions thing. 

I really liked the character of Proginoskes (who ends up being called Progo).  He insists on being called a cherubim (as opposed to the singular cherub) because he’s practically plural.  In the end, he ends up sacrificing himself after Meg is nearly Xed (or unnamed) and Mr. Jenkins is invaded by his Echthroi doubles. 

In the end, Charles Wallace is okay and the world is saved from the Black Thing that was ever present in A Wrinkle In Time.

Rating: 4 out of 5.  I liked it as much as I did A Wrinkle In Time, and it definitely had the spirit of A Wrinkle In Time, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Title: The Enchanted Castle

Author: Edith Nesbit

Pages: 304 pages (e-book)

What I Thought: This is a pretty good book.  For the most part, I seem to be on a children/YA kick, which is fine with me.  Anyway, The Enchanted Castle is about 3 children, Gerald, James and Katherine, who discover the castle while they are on a school break.  They came across a princess, who tells them the castle is full of magic.   

It started off a little slow, but I still found the beginning to be very enjoyable.  I got bored in the middle of the story, and wanted to stop reading, but I kept reading it in the hopes that it would get better.

I did like the part where the kids were trying to find the Ugly-Wuglies a place to stay and ended up at the Temple of Flora.  I also liked the magic in the novel.  It wasn’t very obvious, but it was mentioned.  Plus, there were mentioned of greek gods and goddess, who have a role towards the end of the book. 

I’d have to say that the beginning and the end were my favorite parts of the book, with the middle being the boring part of the book.  However, it was an easy read, and I loved that ring was the source of the magic. 

Rating: I give it a 3 out of 5.

Title: In The President’s Secret Service: Behind The Scenes With Agents In The Line Of Fire And The Presidents They Protect

Author: Ronald Kessler

Pages: 265, paperback

What I Thought: It was a pretty interesting read.  It alternated between stories about the different presidents and the background/history/culture of the Secret Service. 

The book delves into how the Secret Service is understaffed, and cutting corners in protecting the president, vice-president, and other VIP’s.  There are quite a few mentions of the Secret Service bowing down to the people they protect.  There’s a story of how Mary Cheney (one of Dick Cheney’s daughters) had one of her agents removed from her detail because he wouldn’t drive her friends to a restaurant. 

The whole cutting corners thing is a bit scary: there were several instances throughout the book where it’s mentioned that crowds were allowed into events without going through the magnetometers, which were shut off early in order to get the crowds through. 

There were a lot of stories from past and present agents, and it gave some insight onto what they thought of the presidents and the agency they work for.

I actually found the anecdotes really interesting: Jimmy Carter would go into the oval office early in the morning to make people think he went into work early…and then take a nap.  Or how Nancy Reagan didn’t like it when her California friends got their magazine subscriptions before she did. 

Rating: 3 out of 5.  It wasn’t organized well, and it was somewhat difficult to find the info I wanted.  It was also repetitive, especially in regards to how the secret service is cutting corners and how management treats the agents.  However, it did give insight into what it’s like to be a secret service agent (at least to a certain degree), and the timeline of the secret service was pretty useful.

I’m not sure how much of it I’ll end up using, but it was a pretty good read.

Title: Dicey’s Song

Author: Cynthia Voight

Pages: 211

What I Thought: This is the 2nd book in the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voight.  It picks up where Homecoming ended, with the Tillerman kids being adopted by their grandma, and their life in Crisfield. 

They make some new friends along the ways- Mina, who goes to school with Dicey; Mr. Lingerle, who teaches music at Maybeth and Sammy’s school; and Jeff, who plays the guitar.

I didn’t like it nearly is much as Homecoming, mostly because Homecoming was good as a stand-alone novel.  I wasn’t invested in the characters enough to like Dicey’s Song. 

Dicey still has trouble letting go of her siblings, and letting their grandma be the parent.  The family still has some financial issues, as Dicey takes on an after-school job at the local grocery store, and their grandmother (Abigail) gets Social Security to help care for the 4 children. 

I wasn’t even moved when Liza, Dicey’s mom, died.  It was sad, of course, but it was expected.  Besides, from the few recollections in the book, it sounded like she wasn’t the best mom, and as said by James, she had truly died during the summer, when she had abandoned them. 

Rating: 2 out of 5.  I felt like everything I had liked about Homecoming was gone in Dicey’s Song.

Title: Homecoming

Author: Cynthia Voight

Pages: 372

What I Thought: This book is the 1st in the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voight.  It’s another young adult novel (like the 1st 2 books I reviewed).  It’s set in the 1980’s, according to Wikipedia, which I never would have figured out were it not for Wikipedia. 

The book follows the 4 Tillerman children, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, and their journey to their aunt Cilla’s house in Bridgeport.  They were abandoned by their mother at a mall in Connecticut. 

There are strong themes of belonging and family throughout the book.  Family’s important to the Tillerman children, especially Dicey, as evidenced by the fact that she doesn’t want to split up herself and her siblings, and would do most anything to keep them together.  Their father left when their mother was pregnant with Sammy (who was 6 during the novel), and eventually their mother (Liza) loses her job.  Liza would disappear for hours, not talking to her kids, and like I mentioned before, just abandoning her kids at a mall.  This is strongly linked with belonging, because the family is presumed to be poor, setting them apart from the other kids at their school, resulting in them being bullied, having no friends (in the case of Dicey and James), and getting into fights (Sammy and Dicey).  They don’t really belong anywhere, so they learn to stick together, which makes their relationships with each other that much stronger. 

So they end up at their Aunt Cilla’s house, only to find that she has died, and are taken in by their cousin Eunice, who only does it because it’s the “right” thing to do.  Eunice doesn’t really care for the children, but will sacrifice her goal of becoming a nun in order to take them in.  However, they learn of their grandma in Crisfield, and they end up at her house, with all of the children and their grandmother realizing they care for each other.  Their grandmother ends up taking them in, even though she is resistant to the idea, setting aside her fears to take them in. 

Rating: I give it a 3 out of 5.  While a very enjoyable read, it was just average.  It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either- just an average book.