Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The titular character in Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer by Alice Lide and Margaret Johansen (published 1930) is an Eskimo boy who is separated from his tribe and wanders unintentionally via sea into Siberia, where he learns about Russian ways of living in the Arctic. His adventures help him grow from being a boy to being a
Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes by Herbert Best was a Newbery Honor book in 1931. It tells the story of a talented young man in the hilly country in Nigeria and his adventures with his tribe and as he visits the city nearby and learns from the leaders there. Garram must
Imagine if teenaged Ferdinand Magellan were in the same room in Lisbon, Portugal with the known explorers Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco de Gama as they discussed the Portuguese trade routes. That is what Agnes Hewes does in Spice and the Devil’s Cave (published 1930). As the explorers plan, they are joined by a mysterious Arabian
In Mountains are Free by Julia Davis Adams (published 1930), young Bruno longs to see the world apart from his Swiss mountaintop, so when he has a chance to join two Austrian knights, he takes it. But he quickly comes to see that working for Austrian knights means giving up the freedom he’s accustomed to
The titular Lady in Lady Rose and Mrs. Memmary by Ruby Ferguson (published 1937) had a childhood of wealthy bliss in her Scottish estate in the 1860s and 1870s, as told by the housekeeper Mrs. Memmary, who welcomes the American tourists for a tour of the rundown castle in the 1930s. The tourists are enthralled
The Dark Star of Itza: The Story of a Pagan Princess by Alida Malkus (published 1930) is a 1931 Newbery honor novel featuring ancient Mayan traditions in a story of the city of Chicken Itza. Nicté is the only daughter of the high priest and has visionary abilities as she gazes into a dark stone.
Meggy MacIntosh: A Highland Girl in the Carolina Colony by Elizabeth Janet Gray (published 1930) is a middle grade novel awarded a Newbery Honor in 1931. As the subtitle suggests, it focuses on Scottish immigrants to South Carolina, specifically during the Revolutionary War. Meggy comes from a long line of highland wealth, but upon becoming
The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth (published 1930) is a short illustrated children’s book about a painter who has been commissioned to paint a reverent painting of the death of Buddha and the gathering of the animals that attended him. Although I found little to like about the plot of the story,
The Doll family has an island adventure in the early Newbery Honor book Floating Island by Ann Parrish (published 1930). Mr. Doll, Mrs. Doll, their three children, their doll house, and Dinah (their Black cook) are shipwrecked as they are enroute to a child. With the shipwreck, sister Annabel and Dinah have been separated from
The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer (published 1936) is a mix of mystery and a Georgian-era romance story, with a huge dose of humor. The main characters try to solve a mystery of who killed the cardsharp who had won Ludovic’s heirloom ring (the titular “Talisman ring”). Ludovic has fled the country to avoid trial
The Convenient Marriage by George Heyer (published 1934) features the very languid and lazy Lord Rule’s marriage to the very young 17-year-old Horatia Winwood, the youngest daughter who seeks to financial save the family while allowing her older sisters to marry as they please. Stuttering Horatia wants a life an exciting life of wealth, while
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (published 1933) was the author’s second historical fiction children’s novel. As with her first (Little House in the Big Woods; see review), Wilder has written a concise book detailing the daily life and experiences of a child in 1800s America. It differs from all the rest of Wilder’s book
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