Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The Hurricane Girls by Kimberly Willis Holt (Christy Ottavanio Books August 2023) vividly portrays a summer after the strong bond between three girls has started to unravel. Each girl faces her own personal “hurricane” as they struggle with recent decisions, an accident, and a parent who left. Thirteen-year-olds Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki have been
What Maisie Knew by Henry James (1897) tells the story of a young girl torn between two divorced parents. Maisie learns the “games” the parents play and feels the difficulties of not having a steady life throughout her childhood, and eventually she uses her smarts to get just what she wants from life. So what
When Katie and her family return home after an out-of-town funeral, they find themselves evicted from their apartment. To Katie’s dismay, her mother then settles into an Extended Stay hotel as their for-now home while she searches for a new job and an affordable apartment. A middle-grade memoir written in verse, The In-Between by Katie
Today begins the Second Annual Ghanian Literature Week, as celebrated by book bloggers around the globe. Kinna Reads is the central organizer of the occasion; see her introductory post. Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (1991) is about a Ghanian woman searching for her place in a modern world that is steeped in traditional culture. Esi
Henrick Ibsen A Doll’s House (Et Dukkehjem, written 1879) is better known than Ghosts (Gengangere, written 1881), and in my opinion, the former is also a more polished drama. Yet, when I think of one of these plays by Ibsen, I cannot but think of the other. I don’t remember which I read first, but
While I still enjoyed In Chancery and To Let, the second two novels of The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy felt less developed, less powerful, and less important. In essence, to me they felt like merely sequels to a powerful novel. My thoughts on the first novel of the trilogy were complimentary; these thoughts are
Edith Wharton’s 1921 Pulitzer prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence, carefully illustrates the social stigmas prevalent in 1870s New York. I loved Wharton’s ability to draw me in to the internal battles the main characters faced, and I empathized with their desires to find belonging. While today’s social stigmas differ, the emotions remain the same.
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