Roller Skates

Finished Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer. It won the Newbery Medal in 1937. Set in the 1890s it is the story of Lucinda, a ten year old girl who lives with her teacher in a boarding house in New York while her family is in Europe. Lucinda considers herself an orphan during this time and builds herself a new family from the many different people she befriends while skating all over the city. From Rags and Bottles the junk man she meets while picnicking in an empty lot, to the Asian princess who she later finds murdered, the people she meets are all drawn to her. I feel like this book took a lot of risks for its time with murder, swearing and the death of a small child, but it was an extremely satisfying read.

Sawyer also won the Caldecott Honor Medal in 1945 for The Christmas Anna Angel and again in 1956 for Journey Cake, Ho!, which was illustrated by her son-in-law Robert McCloskey.

The Phantom of the Opera

Finished The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, a very bizarre and exciting book. Parts of it are wildly fantastic. This was a fun Halloween read.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Finished The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a novel by Ernest J. Gaines. Jane herself is the narrator. She tells of the many events of her life as an African American, from being a child during slavery to the 1960s. As a child she stands her ground against adult slaves who mistreat her. Once she is free she speaks her mind and has a determination that seems unwavering. Although never formally schooled, she has tremendous wisdom and goes through many life changing experiences, from raising a four year old orphan when she herself is eleven, to finding religion in middle age and then participating in a Civil Rights demonstration at the age of 108. Jane's voice and dialect are so genuine that I sometimes found myself thinking in it from time to time while observing some everyday scene. An excellent and compelling read. I look forward to reading more of Gaines' work.

Cimarron

Finished Cimarron by Edna Ferber, originally published in 1929. Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the book documents the events in the lives of Yancy and Sabra Cravat in Oklahoma Territory. It has the feeling of a tall tale. Many of the events and characters seem larger than life.

One thing that Ferber always seems to do in her novels is to paint a character as a perceived stereotype, introduce them as such to the reader, and then build that character outward and away from the stereotype. In this novel she does so with Native Americans, African Americans and Jews. A few of her characters are open minded and accepting of all people, while some will accept certain groups, but not others. This makes her characters complex and very human.

Although parts of this book were disturbing, I really enjoyed it.

Caddie Woodlawn

Finished Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. It won the Newbery Medal in 1936. Caddie is eleven years old and a long time tomboy. She lives in Wisconsin in the 1860s. Caddie is friends with everyone and everything, especially the Indians who live near their settlement. Caddie is spunky and brave with a strong sense of fair play and justice. She and her family live in a wilderness that is often cut off from the rest of the country, especially in winter. One of the ways they receive news is via the Circuit Rider, a roving minister who travels from settlement to settlement preaching and visiting the sick. He brings them news that the war between the states has ended. He also brings them the news that President Lincoln has been assassinated. This was a fun and exciting book with a strong female protagonist. If you can get past the constant use of the word "savages," this is an enjoyable book.

Durable Goods

Finished Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg. I finished it in less than a day. Like The Secret Life of Bees, this book is set in the early 60s and is about a 12-13 year old girl whose mother has died and whose father is very angry and bitter. Instead of running away and staying away, Katie runs away, but then returns. The book is fast paced and emotionally raw at times, but in a way that is genuine in terms of portraying the voice of a twelve year old girl on the brink of so many changes.

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott

Finished The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Conner McNees. I've had my eye on this book ever since it came out in the spring. The cover is beautiful, as is the prose inside. I was immediately drawn into the story of the Alcotts' summer in New Hampshire in 1855. While this is of course historical fiction, the amount of research that went into this novel makes it seem very real. Louisa's frustrations with the world at large and with her family's situation (thanks to her father's faulty transcendentalist views) have never been quite so clear to me before. I read this very quickly and enjoyed it tremendously.

Never Let Me Go

Finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro in anticipation of the film's release next week. This book has intrigued me for a number of years, but I was concerned that it would be too brutal or graphic. While there is quite a lot of underlying brutality in terms of human nature, the book itself is very quiet. Ishiguro has a very strong grasp of the inner workings of the adolescent mind. All through the book the minor happenings, that in themselves didn't seem like much, all add up to a large, almost overwhelming truth. This is a haunting book.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car

Finished Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car by Ian Fleming. Growing up, the film version of this novel was a favorite that was shown on TV at Thanksgiving. While Fleming's original text is odd, the film adaptation is much stranger, but having just learned that the screenplay was written by Roald Dahl explains that. Fleming wrote the novel for his son Casper. The bad guy is a gangster and while he kidnaps Jeremy and Jemima, he is not primarily a child-snatcher. In the novel their mother is alive and the whole family has adventures together in Chitty.

Dobry

Finished Dobry by Monica Shannon. It won the Newbery Medal in 1935. Dobry is a boy who lives on the family farm with his mother and grandfather in Bulgaria. As he grows older he develops and interest and a talent for art. He begins by drawing in the dirt of the kitchen floor. Later he uses clay from the river and snow as mediums for sculpting. His mother wants him to take over the farm when he grows up, but his grandfather helps to pave the way for him to attend art school in a large city. This book is filled with folktales and customs that make it a fresh and interesting read. It features illustrations by Bulgarian artist Atanas Katchamakoff.

The Cutters

Finished The Cutters by Bess Streeter Aldrich. This is Aldrich's third novel published in 1926. It is the story of a large family living in a small, country community. They are boisterous and busy and often not aware of their apparent contentment. There are several grass-is-always-greener vignettes. Too many I felt. While the rest of the book was charming, this theme became a bit redundant.

The Secret Life of Bees

Finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I loved this book. I could not put it down. It's historical fiction intertwined with a fair bit of mystery. The characters are very original and vivid. The science and lore of beekeeping are both fascinating. I have now developed quite a taste for honey.

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding

Finished Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey. This brief and zany book tells the story of Dolly and the hours leading up to her wedding on a bright but blustery day in March. Dolly's mother is perhaps the most absent minded mother of the bride ever written. She's dotty, like the mother in the film My Man Godfrey. Dolly does her best to avoid an ardent admirer who insists on speaking to her before the wedding. She hides upstairs drinking rum. A breezy and amusing book, it was first published in 1932 by the Woolfs' Hogarth Press. Julia Strachey is the niece of writer and critic Lytton Strachey.

The Wedding Group

Finished The Wedding Group by Elizabeth Taylor (British novelist, not Liz). This was a quick and odd read. The main character Cressie has grown up in a commune-like environment. She longs to break free of it and finally does by moving into town and taking a job at an antique shop. She's a pretty pathetic person. People often feel sorry for her, including David, who eventually marries her. David's mother lives nearby and is very lonely and needy. So is Cressie. The two form a friendship which at times enables David five seconds of freedom. I guess I did not like any of these characters. They were all selfish and damaged. Cressie reminded me a bit of Martha in Margery Sharpe's Martha series.

All This and Heaven Too

Finished All This and Heaven Too by Rachel Field. Based on a true story, this novel outlines the events in the life of French governess Henriette Deluzy-Desportes, her supposed involvement in a scandal that lead to the French Revolution of 1848, and her life after emigrating to the United States. This is an exciting and at times depressing novel. It was made into a film starring Bette Davis and Charles Boyer in 1948. Henriette was Rachel Field's great aunt. Field won the Newbery Award in 1930 for Hitty Her First Hundred Years.