Tag: childrens book

Which Witch?

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Ibbotson, Eva. Which Witch. Apple Paperback, 1979.

Reason read: I am not really sure what I meant by this. I put Which Witch in the category of “Tequila Month” (???).

Imagine being new parents and realizing your darling baby boy is not normal. He was actually born a wizard. George became Arriman Canker and he grew up a solitary dark magic maker. When it came time for Arriman to finally find a wife he decided to hold a contest the week of Halloween. Which witch would make the perfect mate? Only a competition could tell him the true dark witch for him. He wanted a witch who could create the most vile, the darkest, the most powerful and evil magic imaginable. Meet the witches vying for Arriman’s hand in marriage:
Mabel Wrack, the sea witch. Her familiar is an octopus. Her magic for the competition was to raise the Kraken and my favorite magic of the whole lot.
Ethel Feedbag, the country witch with the pig as her familiar.
Nancy and Nora Shouter, twin witches with chickens. Their magic
Mother Bloodwort who occasionally turns herself into inanimate objects and then cannot remember how to change herself back.
Madame Olympia, with an aardvark as a familiar. Her magic for the competition was the most impressive. She created a Symphony of Death Performed by a Cast of Thousands.
Belladonna, a young witch with no familiar.
Needless to say, the competition does not go as planned but Arriman finds a wife and they all live happily ever after…sort of.

Here is something new I learned about magic: milk is the antidote to a spell.

Monalot (her real name was Gwendolyn Swamp). Her familiar is a sheep. She couldn’t compete because she got sick.

Author fact: Ibottson has written a ton of stuff for children. This is the only book I am reading for the Challenge.

Book trivia: My copy of Which Witch was illustrated by Annabel Large.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Not Only for Kids: Fantasies for Grown-Ups” (p 175). It should be of note that Which Witch is the last book in this chapter.

Phoenix and the Carpet

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Nesbit, E. The Phoenix and the Carpet. Read by Anna Bentinick. Naxos Audio Books, 2005.

Reason read: May is Nesbit’s birth month. Read in her honor.

The Phoenix and the Carpet is the second book in the Psammead Trilogy. (Five Children and It and Story of the Amulet round out the series). The same five children as in the first book are back: Cyril (Squirrel), Anthea (Panther), Robert (Bobs), Jane (Pussy), and Lamb (Hilary). This time they discover an egg hidden in a carpet. It holds a beautiful talking phoenix. Like a genie from a bottle, once the phoenix is freed from the egg it explains that the carpet can grant three wishes a day. So the children’s adventures begin. The phoenix needs to often consult the Psammead to get the children out of various predicaments, but unlike Five Children and It, this time the Psammead is not the central character of the story.

Author fact: Edith Nesbit was a political activist in addition to being an author.

Book trivia: The Phoenix and the Carpet was first published in 1904. It became a British miniseries in 1997.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Fantasy for Young and Old” (p 83).

Bonny’s Boy

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Rechnitzer, F.E. Bonny’s Boy. Muriwai Books, 2007.

Reason read: April is national dog month.

Even though this is a book for children Rechnitzer addresses some adult themes. Davy Edwards and his parents are patiently waiting for Davy’s brother, Nat, to return from war. Nat is in the Navy and while he is away Davy was assigned to watch over Bonny, Nat’s sweet and very pregnant cocker spaniel. After Bonny dies while giving birth the family agonizes over how to care for the near-dead pup (who dad wanted to drown). It is up to Davy to save the pup he names “Bonny’s Boy.”
Besides war and death, Davy’s family confronts competitiveness, jealousy and even violence when Davy wants to enter Bonny’s Boy into dog show competitions. If he wins he could take Bonny’s Boy to the big leagues – all the way to Madison Square Garden! The only problem was he was going up against a wealthy and experienced neighbor who historically always won these events. This neighbor would stop at nothing to continue to do so, even resort to animals cruelty if he had to. I found myself getting anxious when Davy got the idea to show Bonny’s Boy in the first competition; a real David and Goliath situation.
When Nat finally comes home from the Navy readers get a taste of the dangers of warfare, but the real lesson is about doing the right thing no matter what. Throughout the entire story Davy exhibits honesty, friendship, integrity, and courage.

Author fact: F.E. Rechnitzer’s full name was Ferdinand Edsted Rechnitzer. He passed away in 1965.

Book trivia: Bonny’s Boy was illustrated by Marguerite Krimse.

As an aside, I was really excited when Davy’s mother announced that she was serving apple pie with cheese for dessert. That is my favorite.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Great Dogs in Fiction” (p 104). As an aside, neither the author nor the title were in the index. Technically, I could have skipped this book.

Crazy Creek

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Lampman, Evelyn Sibley. Crazy Creek. Doubleday & Co., 1948.

Reason read: When I was a child, every January I would chose a stack of books to read over the course of a year. This is in memory of that child.

In a nutshell, a young girl named Judy takes a refurbished boat out on Crazy Creek without knowing the river or how to control the boat. After she crashes the boat, two boys rescue her. Strangely enough, they have her last name. Stranger still, she recognizes one of them as her grandfather.
Confessional: when I realized how the ending was shaping up I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Wizard of Oz. I hope that wasn’t too much of a spoiler alert, but the conclusions are very similar. It also explained why Judy was never overtly homesick while away from her modern day family. She is away from her true family for a year and yet the only time she gets weepy is at Christmas, remembering their traditions.

Author fact: Lampman was born in 1908 and died in 1980.

Book trivia: Crazy Creek is not the most popular of books written by Lampman. The Shy Stegosaurus gets more attention. I’m not reading that one for the Challenge.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the introduction (p x).

White Boots

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Streatfeild, Noel. White Boots. Illustrated by Milein Cosman. Puffin Books, 1963.

Reason read: Noel Streatfeild, if you couldn’t tell by her first name, was born on Christmas Eve. Read in her honor.

Who doesn’t love Noel Streatfeild’s “Shoes” books? Whether you read the British version (White Boots) or the American (Skating Shoes), either is just as cute. Ten year old Harriet is a frail child, recovering from a long illness that has left her legs “cotton-woolish” and weak. Her doctor prescribes exercise to rebuild her muscles. He knows just the sport, ice skating. There at the rink Harriet meets a girl her age, skating sensation Lalla. Lalla’s father was a world famous skater as well but died in an accident. His sister is tyranically determined to make her niece the next star on ice. Seeing that Harriet is a good influence on Lalla’s training, Harriet soon starts taking ice skating, dance and fencing lessons to keep Lalla engaged. I think you can see where this is going.
This is a story of opposites attract. Lalla is beautiful and wealthy. Harriet is plain and poor. Lalla’s skating prowess prompts her to be shallow and selfish. Harriet’s lack of privilege leaves her hungry for friendship. Harriet has a loud, loving, and large family while Lalla only has her nanny, her prim and proper aunt, and a home-schooling governess.
This is also a story of acceptance. Just because you have a world class athlete for a father doesn’t mean you have inherited the genes. All Lalla’s life she has been pushed into believing she had to be the skater her father was. She had been given every advantage to fulfill that expectation except she lacked one thing. Talent. Along comes a nobody of a girl. No fancy clothes. No world class father. No money to buy premier lessons. But Harriet did have one thing. Ability.
As an aside, times have changed. In today’s world it is incredibly rare for a sibling to start a paper route just to support his sister’s recovery. What kid does that? Alec is a smart brother. He knows exactly how much he will earn from delivering papers and he also knows how much the skate rental will cost. His business sense drives him to save the two extra shillings to put towards his father’s failing business. Again, what kid does that? I enjoyed the side story of the garden very much.

Confessional: when Streatfeild was setting up the family’s history of poverty, I couldn’t keep up with who lived in which house.
Father Christmas only has six tiny reindeer?

Author fact: Noel Streatfeild was born on Christmas Eve.

Book trivia: Originally published in 1951 in the United States as Skating Shoes.

Playlist: “Where the Rainbow Ends”, “The First Nowell” (Streatfeild’s spelling, not mine), “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, and “O Come All Ye Faithful”.

Nancy said: Pearl said Streatfeild is best known for her shoe books.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Fantasy For Young and Old” (p 83). The “Shoe” books should not be included in this chapter because they are not fantasy. Pearl only mentions them because of The Fearless Treasure, which I have not been able to find.

I Capture the Castle

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Smith, Dodie. I Capture the Castle. St Martin’s Griffin, 1948.
Smith, Dodie. I Capture the Castle. Read by Toby Jones and Holliday Grainger. BBC4 Radio, 2016.

Reason read: A long time ago we stayed in a castle. It was June and very romantic.

Teenage Cassandra writes in her diary like a typical girl. She makes observations about not-so typical situations, like the fact her family lives in poverty in a rundown English castle. Her dream is to become a famous author so to practice she recounts the lives of her family with sharp and witty commentary. As she says, “contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing” (p 25). At the onset, the name of the game seems to be to marry off sister Rose to the highest bidder; and that man seems to be American Simon Cotton. Poor Rose cannot even find a suitable dress for dinner let alone charm her future husband over a decent meal. I Capture the Castle is more than a dating game, it is the story of society’s opinion of a woman’s place. It says something about the attitudes about feminine decorum.
One of my favorite moments was when Simon and his brother Neil spotted Rose and Cassandra in ratty fur coats. To avoid anyone seeing them in such shambles Neil pretends they are a bear and “kills” it before mother can see. How perfectly ridiculous yet, there is an air of social grace in the midst of destitution.

As a personal aside, I could relate when Cassandra was seduced with the help of music. I have been there myself, both as seducer and seduced. Music can say a lot without saying anything at all…if you know what I mean.

Author fact: Dodie is Dorothy Gladys Smith, born in 1896. I Capture the Castle is her first novel, but she is also responsible for the Disney story of the One Hundred and One Dalmatians, inspired by Pongo, Smith’s own Dalmatian.

Book trivia: I Capture the Castle was made into a movie “most romantic” but before that, it was a play in 1954. Confessional: I have been saying I captureD (past tense) the castle for days now.

Audio trivia: the BBC4 Radio version is a big production with a full cast complete with music.

Playlist: “Green Sleeves”, “The Isle of Capri”, “Blow the Man Down”, “God Save the King”, Handel’s “Air from the Water Music”, Debussy’s “Water Music” and “Clair de Lune”, La Cathedrale Engloutie”, “La Terrasse Des Audiences au Clair de Lune”, Bach’s “Lover” and “Sheep May Safely Graze”.

Nancy said: Pearl admitted it was hard not to smile when reading the first line of I Capture the Castle. What was that first line? Read the book to find out.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “First Lines to Remember” (p 86).

Fifteen

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Cleary, Beverly. Fifteen. HarperCollins, 1956.

Reason read: a Christmas gift to myself (something I could read in a day without thinking).

If you know Cleary’s books you know they can be inhaled in one sitting. Written for children and young adults, Fifteen tackles, well, being fifteen. Jane Purdy is exactly that age and anxious to break free of stereotypical teenager dilemmas like mean girls and being boy crazy. She tires of babysitting brats, longs for a boyfriend she can call her own, and is sick of being the homely girl Marcy always teases. As it is, Jane is an easy target with her sensible shoes, no nonsense hairstyle and round collars. I found it distressing that Jane needed a boy to feel like she belonged at Woodmont High, but that’s fifteen for you. This is definitely one book best read as a young child or early teen.

Author fact: Cleary also write the Ramona series. I am only reading Fifteen for the Challenge.

Book trivia: I couldn’t remember reading this book until I saw a different cover of it. Interesting fact: the cover of that book had a boy putting an identification bracelet on a girl’s wrist as a sign they were going steady. I was disappointed in the cover because that’s not how it happened in the book. Spoiler alert.

Nancy said: Pearl included Fifteen as a book that is better remembered than reread. She actually said it was one book she couldn’t reread without feeling “disappointed, betrayed, and embarrassed” (Book Lust p 165).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “My Own Private Dui” (p 165).

Farmer Giles of Ham

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Tolkien, J.R.R. Farmer Giles of Ham: The Rise and Wonderful Adventures of Farmer Giles, Lord Tame Count of Worminghall and Knight of the Little Kingdom. Embelished by Pauline Baynes. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.

Reason read: October is Fantasy Month. I also needed a book for the category of “Book I wish I had read as a child” for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge.

Farmer Giles (aka Aegidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola De Hammo) lives in a kingdom where giants and dragons occasionally terrorize the community. Normally one to mind his own business and not get involved, Farmer Giles is seen as a hero after he chases off a giant terrorizing the village and squashing livestock. After such accidental bravado, it is only natural that the village appoint Farmer Giles as the one to slay a greedy dragon (worm) when it comes calling on Ham. With a talking dog and an overworked mare, Giles accepts the challenge. The result is as humorous as it is childish. This is a book for children of all ages, after all.

Quote I liked, “It ran through the realm like fire and lost nothing in the telling” (p 40). That’s the sign of a good rumor. Note to self: beyond being a hero, it is good to be a darling.

Author fact: Everyone knows Tolkien for his Lord of the Rings series. I have to admit, I had never heard of Farmer Giles of Ham until Book Lust.

Book trivia: Farmer Giles of Ham is hailed as a book for children but I have to agree with one reviewer that it is a book for all ages. At only 64 pages it is a quick read.

Nancy said: Pearl said Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham has one of her favorite quotes about the possibilities of fantasy.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror” (p 213). As an aside, I am really putting a dent in this chapter this year.

Little Prince

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Saint-Exupery, Antione de. The Little Prince, 75th Anniversary Edition. Translated by Richard Howard. Editions Gallimard, 2018.

Reason read: July is considered Children’s Book Month.

The preface to this review is that I somehow picked up the 75th anniversary edition of The Little Prince. In addition to reading a cute short story designed for children of all ages, I am reviewing the history, making, and perceptions of the classic tale. It includes Saint Exupery’s biography, tons of beautiful photographs, and fourteen appreciation essays. Really cool. The story of The Little Prince starts with a downed aviator (probaly Saint-Exupery himself), trying to fix his plane. He encounters a young boy, “the Little Prince” who asks him to draw him a picture. From there, the story blooms into a tale about a child’s relationship with adult realities. The child ends up being more mature than the adults he encounters. Grownups always need explanations.

As an aside, it brought a shiver to my spine when the Little Pricne asked the pilot if he fell out of the sky for that is how Saint-Exupery died.

Quotes I liked, “One must command from each what each can perform” (p 111) and”You risk tears if you let yourself be tamed” (p 153). This last line reminds me of Natalie Merchant’s line, “To pick a pick a rose you ask your hands to bleed.”

Author fact: to look at Saint-Exupery is to hear a French accent. His face is oh so France.

Book trivia: the French version of The Little Prince was translated by Vali Tamm and published in April 1946, two years after Saint-Exupery’s death. The 75th anniversary edition was supposed to have a free audio download, but the url didn’t work. I found another version (or maybe it’s the same one) on YouTube for the 70th anniversary.

Nancy said: Pearl said Saint-Exupery is best known for The Little Prince.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Flying Above the Clouds” (p 89). In theory, The little Prince should not have been included in this chapter unless you call living on a tiny planet flying high above the clouds…

Great and Terrible Beauty

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Bray, Libba. A Great and Terrible Beauty. Ember, 2003.

Reason read: May is birds and bees month. A Great and Terrible Beauty is a book written for teenagers. I think you can figure it out from there.

Even though this is a book best for teens I found myself enthralled with the story of Gemma. After her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, Gemma is sent to an finishing school in London. Everyone is saying her mother died of cholera because the truth is far more scandalous for the Victorian era. Despite taking place in Victorian England, Gemma’s boarding school could be in western Maine in the 21st century. The cattiness of school girls is as timeless as it is universal. In short, there will always be a crew, a posse, a clique, or gang. Some group of individuals designed to alienate and torture others. The names of these groups will change, but for the outsider the unfathomable desire to belong to one of them will never change. The act of self-mutilation in an effort to feel “something” is timeless, as well. Cutting in an effort to feel something is also represented in the story. The title of the book comes from the great and terrible beauty of power. There is an unspoken responsibility when bestowed with power. Gemma has the power to visit another realm; one filled with beautiful visions and terrible evils.

Two lines I liked, “Your mind is not a cage” (p 128) and “What kind of girl am I to enjoy a kiss I’ve seized so boldly, without waiting to have it asked for and taken from me, the way I should?” (p 210).

Author fact: according to the author bio, Libba is a cat person. Cool.

Book trivia: A Great and Terrible Beauty is the first of three books in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy. I am not reading Rebel Angels or The Sweet Far Thing. Too bad because I liked A Great and Terrible Beauty.

Playlist: “God Save the Queen”.

Nancy said: Pearl didn’t say anything specific about A Great and Terrible Beauty other than to indicate it is best for teenage girls. I would disagree. Boys need to know about prejudices against women. Gemma’s brother is a prime example of what was (and still is) wrong with our society. Girls, females, women are not supposed to be pretty objects for men to own no matter the century. We can’t erase how long it took women to have a vote or to play professional sports, but we can educate our boys, males, men to make better choices when it comes to the representation and treatment of women. [Stepping down from soap box now…]

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Teens” (p 23).

Man in the Box

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Dunn, Mary Lois. The Man in the Box: a Story From Vietnam. McGraw Hill, 1968.

Reason read: I read somewhere that March 8th is Hug a G.I. Day. I read this in honor of the thousands of men kept in little boxes from every war.

If you read this book with a child’s intent, it is a story about a young boy who knows the worth of a human life and tries with heroic measures to save it. If you read this book with an adult’s cynicism, it is a book that glorifies American soldiers in the Vietnam War and completely misses the point of the Vietnamese culture. My advice is to read it as Mary Lois Dunn intended: as a story for children. Chau Li witnesses the horrible torture of an American soldier kept cramped prisoner in a small cane box. His own father suffered in same-such box but did not survive the brutality. Determined to somehow save the American, Chau Li risks everything to squirrel “Dah Vid” away in a cave until together they can safely rejoin the Green Barets hidden somewhere in the deep Vietnamese jungle. As they hide out from the Viet Cong Chau Li and Dah Vid grow close, form a friendship and make unrealistic promises. Spoiler alert: the end is ambiguous which is surprising for a book meant for children.

Author fact: Mary Lois Dunn was a librarian.

Book trivia: The Man in the Box won the Oklahoma Sequoyah Children’s Book Award in 1968.

Nancy said: Pearl called The Man in the Box “harrowing and sad” and although it is long out of print, it is “definitely worth tracking down” (Book Lust p 115).

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Historical Fiction For Kids Of All Ages” (p 115).

Tangerine

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Bloor, Edward. Tangerine. New York: Scholastic Signature, 1997.

Reason read: I needed a one-word title for the Portland Public Library Reading Challenge.

Tangerine, Florida seems like a strange and dangerous place to live. Constant lightning strikes in the afternoons, continuous underground muck fires, and resulting sinkholes plague the community. That’s not all. Prized koi fish are mysteriously disappearing from the community pond. Swarms of mosquitos are so thick, trucks with choking pesticides spray daily as if on war patrol. Multiple houses need fumigating because of termites. Then the robberies begin…and the vandalism and graffiti.
Paul Fisher and his family have recently moved to this unstable area and all middle-schooler Paul wants to do is make the soccer team. Despite having a disability (he is legally blind), he is an excellent goalie. He just needs a chance. Since all eyes (pun totally intended) are on Paul’s older brother, Eric, the high school football star destined for greatness, that chance seems slim. Everyone adores Eric so why does Paul fear his brother so much?
Tangerine stuns the reader with harsh realities usually missing from young adult novels. Publishers Weekly said “it breaks the mold” and I agree one hundred percent. Confessional: some scenes were so harsh I found myself catching my breath.

Line that gave me pause, “Eric was as phony as he needed to be” (p 57). Little did I know how telling that line would be.

Author fact: Bloor has written a bunch of books but I am only reading Tangerine for the Challenge.

Book trivia: Tangerine is Bloor’s first novel. My edition has an introduction from Danny DeVito.

Playlist: “Try to Remember.”

Nancy said: the only thing Pearl said specifically about Tangerine is that it is more appropriate for boys than girls.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Teens” (p 23).

Dicey’s Song

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Voigt, Cynthia. Dicey’s Song. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982.

Reason read: to finish the series started in July in honor of Kids month.

When we catch up to the Tillerman family (after reading Homecoming) they are in Maryland living with the grandmother they never knew they had. Dicey is a teenager starting to come of age with homework and budding, albeit reluctant, friendships. Her two younger brothers, James and Sammy, are in thriving in school. Her only sister Maybeth is a musical prodigy. Her family is becoming self-sufficient. Everything should be great for Dicey as the eldest sibling. Her family is not on the run. They have a roof over their heads every night. They have food on the table at every meal. They have someone to look after them. They are all in school. But, for Dicey something is intrinsically wrong. For the longest time she had control over her family. Keeping them together and safe was all she knew. It is what she did best. When her siblings start exercising independence Dicey isn’t sure how to feel about it. Throughout the story she struggles to learn to let them go their own ways, together but apart. At the same time Dicey deals with the internal confusion of becoming a young woman without her mother’s guidance. My favorite moments were whenever Gram’s hardened exterior softened as each child reached for her love.

Author fact: Voigt has written over a dozen young adult novels.

Book trivia: Dicey’s Song is a Newbery Award winner.

Playlist: “I Gave My Love a Cherry,” “Amazing Grace,” “Who Will Sing for Me?” “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” “Pretty Polly,” “Amazing Grace,” Beethoven, and even though they didn’t name the song, I recognized the story of “Matty Groves” (thanks to Natalie Merchant).

Nancy said: Pearl said nothing specific about Dicey’s Song.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Boys and Girls” (p 169).

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

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Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Reason read: July is Kids Month. Read in honor of being a kid at heart. I still love this series.

The beginning of the adventure in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe begins innocently enough. To avoid the bombings of World War II in London, four siblings are taken to Professor Digory Kirke’s expansive mansion in the countryside for safekeeping. On their first rainy day they decide to explore the many rooms of their new home in a rousing game of hide-and-go-seek. Lucy, the youngest, stumbles upon a room where the only piece of furniture in it is an old wardrobe. She decides it would make a marvelous hiding spot until she discovers, just beyond the fur coats, a whole new world. From here, the tale turns fantastical with a land under an evil spell of constant winter that never reaches Christmas, fauns and centaurs and giants, talking animals, and good and evil magic all around. Now that I have sufficiently reminded you of the story, you know the rest.
As a child, I can remember the scene with Aslan and the Queen scaring the beejeezus out of me. My eyes would skim that scene as if reading it faster would make it easier.

Author fact: Clive Staple Lewis has a website here. I especially appreciate the timeline of his life.

Book trivia: Everyone knows The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe as the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia. However, it is Lewis’s preference readers start with The Magician’s Nephew as the true beginning of the tale.

Nancy said: Pearl aid she could remember reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a child.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the Introduction (p x).

Homecoming

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Voigt, Cynthia. Homecoming. New York: Aladdin Press, 1981.

Reason read: July is National Kids Book month. Reading Voigt in honor of the month.

Picture yourself as a teenager with three younger siblings. What would you do if your mother left all of you in a car in a mall parking lot to never came back? Dicey Tillerman faces that dilemma after she realizes her mother has been “shopping” way too long. A full night and day too long. Looking back on the events leading up to this abandonment, Dicey understands her mother had been planning this escape from her children carefully, almost deliberately. Making them memorize the address to their great-aunt’s house; packing them bag lunches. The days before her departure were full of signs Dicey somehow missed or didn’t want to believe. Now, armed with bag lunches and a few dollars, she must protect her little family of siblings. Shepherding them along country backroads, hiding in bushes, camping on deserted beaches, and scrimping and saving only to buy the bare necessities, Dicey navigates her way down the coast of Connecticut from Peewauket, Massachusetts to their great-aunt’s house, hoping mother will be there. This is an all-too-real tale of a mother overwhelmed by life. Her children are fighters, though. Each child will warm your heart with their various personalities.

Quotes to quote, “A lot of people had little bits of her life now, and they were tied to her now, or she was tied to them” (p 306).

Author fact: Voigt went to Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Book trivia: Homecoming is the first book in a series about the Tillerman family. I am only reading Homecoming and Dicey’s Song for the Challenge. Homecoming was also made into a movie in 1996.

Playlist: “Peggy-O,” “Water is Wide” by the Indigo Girls, “Greensleeves,” and “Who Will Sing for Me?” by the Stanley brothers.

Nancy said: Pearl did not say anything specific about Homecoming except to notate is is a good read for both boys and girls.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “Best for Boys and Girls” (p 22).