Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Just like the other middle grade novels by Gary Schmidt, The Labors of Hercules Beal (Harper Collins, May 2023) follows the pattern of lonely or troubled kid learning from a loving and helpful teacher over the course of a school year. Once again, the protagonist is a seventh grader, this time a boy named Hercules
A girl raised by squirrels: Why not? The new early chapter book The Girl in the Tree by by Ellen Potter (illustrated by Sara Cristofori; Margaret McElderry Books, June 2023) takes this ridiculous concept and makes a creative story about a girl in Central Park who has only known her adoptive squirrel father since she
Ah, sigh. When you find the just right book for the just right time in your life, it feels magical! A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus (Holiday House, February 2021) was just right. My then fourth-grader and I read it aloud last year, and it took a lot of willpower to pace
How to Stay Invisible by Maggie C. Rudd (Atheneum Books, June 2023) is a survival story as well as a moving example of child abandonment and homelessness, but it also stands strong as a story of friendship and finding oneself. Twelve-year-old Raymond has never felt close to anyone, with his parents frequently moving at will
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin (Sourcebooks, 2018) is a graphic novel that illustrates the fictional story of two orphaned brothers traveling illegally from their home in Ghana to Europe, hoping to reunite with their sister, who illegally traveled the same route years before. On their journey, they face robbers and homelessness as they
This post contains thematic spoilers. I have put off writing my thoughts on the prequel to the Boxcar Children series for more than two weeks now. It’s not that I didn’t like it. On the contrary, I really enjoyed seeing the children interact with their parents, relish their life on a small farm, and find
Bleak House (published serially 1852-1853) is a sweeping saga of epic proportions. Charles Dickens obviously planned the plot carefully, especially by providing an introduction and characters for the bulk of the first third of the novel, so that the last third of the novel would swiftly move to a satisfying conclusion that ties all the
Delia has recently been orphaned and finds herself among a truly odd assortment of characters when she arrives at Oddfellow Bluebeard’s orphanage. Each child at Oddfellow’s Orphange has something that sets them apart from the others, from the boy with an onion head, to the girl with blue tattoos all over her body, to a
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner (first published 1924) is the first in a series for children about four orphaned children striking out on their own. I haven’t read the others in the series since I was a child and I don’t remember them very well, but the first book was a fun trip
Given my recent emphasis on Victorian Literature, I don’t think it would surprise you to know I’ve enjoyed all the Charles Dickens novels I’ve read thus far. A Christmas Carol (discussed here) is one I have read regularly during the holidays since I was a teenager, and while I didn’t love the other Christmas novellas,
The Graveyard Book was my first Neil Gaiman novel. Despite the fact that bloggers seem to have a special fondness for Gaiman, I just never felt inclined to give his books a read. I’m not a huge fan of fantasy (I’m not sure why) and I’m also less inclined to read something just because the
Oliver Twist surprised me. Oliver’s story is familiar to me: I watched the musical many times as a young girl (my mother fast forwarding past That Scene). I loved the music and found the characters delightful. I always loved Artful Dodger! And yet, when I read the book, I was surprised. I expected this book
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