Nancy and Plum

by Betty MacDonald

Two thumbs up.

This book is awesome.  I can't wait to read it to my kids.  The characters are vivid, the scenery is colorful and richly described, the plot is engaging.  The characters, while not perfect, strive to be good.  There is a clear delineation between good and evil.  And there is a sweet happy ending.

Nancy and Plum live with Mrs. Monday in her boarding home in Heavenly Valley.  But life at the boarding home is anything but heavenly.  While Mrs. Monday and her niece Marybelle live high on the hog, the other residents in the home are clothed in tatters and kept half starved. 

Nancy is a calm quiet girl and her younger sister, Plum, is full of mischief.  They make up pretend stories to get through the hard times.  They go to story hour with Miss Appleby at the library.  And they attend school with the dear, Miss Waverly.

The spirit of Nancy and Plum shines brightly through while they survive in these depressed circumstances.  They hold each other up and they buoy the spirits of the other children who are stuck together with them in Mrs. Monday's Boarding Home for Children.  The antics of the girls will make you laugh, and their heartache might just make you cry.

Mary Grand Pre had done nice illustrations to compliment this new edition. 

This definitely qualifies as what Charlotte Mason fans would consider a living book.  It ought to be a classic.

Thieves Break In

by One thumb up and one thumb down

I would have enjoyed this book more had I not read the quote on the back from The Santa Fe New Mexican, "For those who thrive on Jan Karon's Mitford novels."  The protagonist in both is an Episcopalian Priest.  The similarity stops about there.  Yes, I'd say that's about the only commonality.  But the comment would imply to me a hometown portrayal of American values and a rich depiction of the variety of personalities that makes life interesting.  Those features are what makes the Mitford books stand out in the literary marketplace.

Another quote on the back, this from Sarah Graves, author of the Home Repair is Homicide mysteries, with which I'm unfamiliar "...Two smart quirky sleuths with a heart--and soul."  The two quotes taken together gave the impression that the characters would be presenting some sort of morality.  As I found out, they were.  But the morality portrayed is not of the traditional Judeao-Christian bent.

For the one thumb up, the book is a pretty good murder mystery, nothing outstanding, but then, that's not usually the purpose in reading a murder mystery.  The characters are mostly well developed, the plot has appropriate twists and turns, the settings are interesting and richly described.

An interesting departure from the typical murder mystery, is the sleuthing the primary gumshoes, Katherine and Tom, do.  Although they are not primarily the ones who solve the mystery, they are instrumental in solving it, mostly through a series of coincidental incidents.  Katherine and Tom spend their time unravelling the mysteries of the family line of the landowners where the murder took place.  Everything of course falls together at the end, but I found this use of the sleuths an interesting twist.

The strong point is probably the author's use of time.  The story-line unfolds in a non-linear manner and skips from one decade to another in a fashion exactly to my liking.  I had to check back on people and places periodically, but not so much that it became frustrating.  At two points, just when I thought I had lost all the connections completely, the author gave me a family tree to which I could refer.  Some of the threads of story were only touched upon once early on and then left to the end.  This device left me curious throughout as to how these strings were going to be woven in.

My disappointment with the book is based on my personal morality and my preference for reading books that either avoid moralizing completely or portray traditional moral lifestyles.  This book seems to want to portray those things traditionally considered immoral, as sanctioned by those who are supposed to be the shepherds of the church. 

The protagonist, the Reverend Kathryn Koerney, is an Episcopalian priest.  Her cousin who has just died under mysterious circumstances was her best friend, and we find out was homosexual.  This in itself is not important, nor was the gentleman's sexuality important to the story line, but the way it is portrayed is somewhat preachy and moralizing.  I felt as though the whole reason for including it was as an opportunity to portray bigotry against the homosexual lifestyle.

Kathryn at one point in the book arranges to stay the night with a guy she's falling in love with, although because of the way the plot unravelled near the end, we're not told whether she kept that date. 

From the beginning, it is clear that Tom, Kathryn's fellow sleuth and one of her parishioners is in love with her, but is himself married to another.  At the end of the story, as a hooked line to the next book in the series, Tom is encouraged by a wise elder character to not give up on Kathryn.  His final words of exhortation, "I seriously doubt that any man who does not have the balls to get out of a loveless marriage deserves Kathryn Korney."

All these moral points would not bother me as much in a different setting.  But taken together and portrayed as they are, they seem designed to push the envelope.  The idea of a pastor who accepts non-traditional values seems a bit contrived.  At best, the effect does not make for pleasant diversionary reading.  At worst, it just makes me plum mad.  It seems deceitful and preachy.  Especially when coupled with the endorsements the publishers chose to put on the back cover of the book.

The Nanny Diaries

by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus


Uffda!  Thumbs Down.


The book is a downer.  The Nanny Diaries is the kind of book that wraps the reader up in the characters and their lives and then uses those well developed characters to spin a completely depressing plot.  Technically the book is well written and the plot moves along.  But the plot itself is very sad.


While Nan is finishing her degree, she gets a part time nanny job for an ultra rich Manhattan couple.  Which turns into a nearly full time (but only paid for part time) nanny job caring for Grayer.  It becomes apparent very early on that Nan's care is the only love that little Grayer ever gets.  In short order, as would happen to any decent human being, Nan gives her heart to this little person and, in order to make Grayer's life a little better, puts herself at the beck and call of Grayer's self absorbed mother.


This drives Nan nuts over time.  But the father's overly confident mistress drives her even nutser.  Nan moralizes over the decision of whether or not to "tell on him".  If she does, she has good reason to believe she will be dismissed, which will only hurt Grayer.  But is she wrong to hide something of such import from her employer.


During play dates and various lessons and other scheduled activities, Nan gets to know and even is befriended by other cooks, house cleaners and nannies.  Several of these employees are dismissed by their employers during the course of the book, all for little or no reason, on a whim of a wealthy, self-centered parent.


Readers are given a glimpse into the competition of upper income private school admissions.  The small children are pushed and educated and forced into violin, Latin, French, piano, music, art  and music history seemingly from the time they are born, all by way of the time and energies of the nannies.  All this, so that by the time they have their interviews for Kindergarten, they can get one of the few slots in the school of their parents' choice.  

The four-year-olds in the book are carried and strolled around New York.  They are dressed and spoon fed (a very strict diet designed for ultimate brain growth) and pampered.  They are incapable of independent activity.


Yes, I do understand this is fiction.  But on the back cover it did claim to be true-to-life.  It also said hilarious.  The only way this book could be hilarious is if it couldn't ever be true.  Frightening and depressing would be my preferred words.


Apparently I'm somewhat alone in my opinion, however, because I see it's been made into a comedic movie starring Scarlett Johansson as Nan.

Giants in the Earth

by O. E. Rolvaag

Thumbs up.

This classic tale of Norwegian immigration to Dakota Territory, tells the story of the Spring Creek Settlement.  Per and Beret Hansa, Hans and Sorrina Olsa, Syvert and Kjersti Tonseten, and the two Solum brothers face together, the perils of westward expansion.  Among the hardships they must bear are hunger, backbreaking labor, difficulties in childbirth, fear of the native people, grasshoppers, and summer and winter storms.  But worse by far for some, is the fear and loneliness of this new country.  The openness and stillness are so pervasive they are hard to ignore.  And for some settlers, including Per Hansa's Beret, they sometimes lead to insanity.

Rolvaag, himself a Norwegian immigrant as a young man, tells all too realistically the sights and sounds of the prairie and the various emotions of the settlers.  We laugh and cry with them.  We appreciate the noble sacrifices they made in order to turn what is described as a desolate and forbidding landscape into the communities and farms that thrive in those prairie lands today. 

We hear with Per Hansa and Beret the, "Squeak, squeak," of the wagon wheels and the, "Tish-ah, tish-ah," of the grasses opening before and closing behind the wagon.

We share with Beret the fear of the open spaces and the almost supernatural forces that inhabit them. We can feel the great silence along with those first settlers.

We experience the manic energy of Per Hansa to get more and more ground broken and keep ahead of his neighbors.  And we rejoice over each acre of sod he breaks and the large sod house and stable he provides his family.

We feel Syvert and Kjersti's sadness, and even bitterness, when they are not able to have children.  We breath a sigh of relief with Per Hansa, when his wife and child make it through a frighteningly difficult birth.

We rejoice Per Hansa's faithful friends, Hans Olsa and Sorrina, when their friend's wife returns to her senses.  We can appreciate the import of their steadfastness to Per Hansa and his family.

But most of all, we feel gratitude and awe toward our forebears for the hardships they surmounted that we might have the farms and towns that make the great plains the great communities they are today.  These people were truly giants in the earth.

The White Mountains

by John Christopher

Two thumbs up!

This is the first installment in the classic Tripods trilogy written in the late '60's by British science fiction author Samuel Youd under the pseudonym, John Christopher.  This series for youth truly stands the test of time.  I enjoyed it in the late '80's, when I first read it as a child, and I enjoyed it now, as an adult.

The story begins quite like a coming of age tale.  We find Will, on the eve of his Capping ceremony, which will mark his entrance into adulthood.  He lives in a futuristic society in which everyone has been enslaved by the mysterious Tripods through mind control made possible by the implantation of metal Caps on the heads of 14 year old during a special celebration.  We slowly learn who the Tripods are as the story progresses, as the story is told from Will's point of view, and he isn't quite sure what they are or how they came to rule over man.

This thrilling science fiction adventure is captivating for so many reasons.  Certainly, the idea of a boy battling large, metallic creatures who are possibly alien beings is motivation enough for many kids to pick up the book.  But looking deeper, the thoughts of Will as he journeys toward a life of freedom from Capping and the Tripods are just as important.  We see struggles that many children his age face: a desire for true friendship, respect and his own place in the world.  We see a child who questions authority, and wants to think for himself.  We see his bravery, but also his fear.  We see him second guess himself in moments of weakness, yet prevail-----perhaps the same weaknesses which allowed this futuristic human race to become slaves to the Tripods long ago.

It is also interesting to hear these characters, who live in the future but with 19th century technology, give their views on "relics of the ancients" that they see remnants of.  Items like watches, subway systems, canned food, trains---are completely foreign concepts to Will and his companions.  They seem to know as little about what life had been like on Earth before the Tripods came as they do about the Tripods themselves.  One could speculate about how a society could be so physically, mentally and morally weak to have allowed themselves to be overcome so completely by the Tripods.

With rumors that this trilogy will soon be made into a movie, it's a great time to rediscover this classic contribution to children's literature.

Write, Slide and Learn: Phonics

Edited by Kate Cuthbert

Thumbs up.

This is a really neat book with a variety of phonics activities.  The range of activities is quite large, with just a few pages at each level, so this could be a deterrent for some users.

Perhaps the most useful lessons are found in the first few pages.  The book begins with a really nice section on choosing the correct short vowel to match the pictures.  Since many kids have trouble hearing the difference between some short vowel sounds, particularly, a, e, and i, these lessons give fun reinforcement when first learning those distinctions.

There is a section on long vowel sounds with a silent e.  This section could be used to introduce the "first vowel says its name, second vowel is silent" rule. 

After that, the progression of the book becomes slightly more arbitrary.  The lessons continue with an extensive long vowel section, less suitable for a beginning reader, then back to some consonant practice that a beginner could do.

The long vowel sections could be useful for those practicing spelling lessons with various long vowel combinations or for review of the above.  It includes a few pages of practice for each of the long vowel sounds in which the child chooses which vowel combination is the correct one for a given picture.  For instance, on the long o page, the student must choose between o, oa, ow, and o+e, to complete the words  "n__s__"  or  "t__ __d"  and there is a corresponding photo for each.

The book includes lessons on choosing whether the vowel sound is long or short; ending and beginning consonants, and general consonants; ending and beginning blends; digraphs; and review pages.

The book is a write on/wipe off style book that is actually easy for the kids to wipe off.  That is a big plus for me, since it seems like so many reusable books of this sort take a parent to do the wiping.  It comes with its own marker.  It has an enclosed spiral binding, in which my daughter kept handy a paper towel for wiping the pages clean.

The lessons are of two sorts, every other page is a practice page of four rows with four pictures in each, and a place below to fill in the correct letter or letter combo.  There is a neat sliding mechanism that allows the child to check each row after filling in the answers.  As the child pulls the slide, the pictures are hidden and are replaced with the correct entire word, and below it the particular letter or letter combo that the child ought to have filled in.

The alternate pages have just a few colorful photos and blanks, which reinforce the lesson.  These pages have no answers included.

The pages and binding seem durable.  The photos throughout are engaging and colorful.  Most pictures are easily identifiable, but a few were difficult for my preschooler to determine.  I'm sure an older user could more readily identify the photos.  The book was originally published in Australia, so there are occasional words that have different English usages in American English, such as a light "globe" instead of "bulb".

Over all the book is very nice.  It could make a nice addition to a homeschool collection, or a summer review or a classroom learner.

The Day They Came to Arrest the Book

by Nat Hentoff

Thumbs mostly up.

More than telling a story, Mr. Hentoff uses this book as a platform from which to introduce, in a manner interesting to middle through high school aged kids, the idea of censorship and book banning.  The setting is a somewhat generic Anywhere, USA, town high school, aptly named, George Mason High School.  The cast of characters includes students: Barnaby, the high school newspaper editor of Jewish descent; Gordon, an African American young man; Kate, an aspiring feminist; and several other minor characters: students, teachers, the principle, a past and present librarian, and various townspeople.

The basic story line begins with a history teacher, Mrs. Baines, juxtaposing Huckleberry Finn with readings from Alexis de Tocqueville in order to introduce her 19th century American history class.  Gordon, the African American student, is frustrated, seething would be more accurate, over the racial slurs and constant use of the "n-word" in Huckleberry Finn.  After his father demands the principle remove this book from the school entirely, Mr. Moore, the smooth talking principle tries to deal with the situation discretely.  He encounters resistance, however, from both Mrs. Baines and the new librarian, Miss Fitzgerald.  They demand the principle follow official procedure.

This leads to the school board appointing a review committee which will hold community hearings.  The committee will then approve a recommendation by vote and present it to the school board for guidance.  The school board must then hold its own open meetings and cast a vote.  Throughout this process the faculty, student body, and entire community becomes involved.  Eventually the situation ends up on national news.

Mr. Hentoff does a fairly good job of trying to portray all the various sides of the issue of censorship within a school setting.  He addresses the ideas of students being a captive audience, of schools being houses of learning, and the debate over at what age and in what way students ought to be introduced to analyzing ideas different than their own.  He addresses the idea of a restricted book shelf and students opting out of certain class materials.  He addresses teachers having autonomy within their classes.  He is a little weak, in my opinion, on parental authority and rights.

I think Mr. Hentoff did a pretty good job of spinning a compelling plot out of a civics lesson.

The characters are somewhat unevenly drawn.  The adults are developed very well.  They are often quite comical in their idiosyncrasies.  The kids are not very well developed except to tell us one or two things that might be important to them.  The author takes a couple of chapters to introduce the students, but it seemed a bit rushed.

There is one somewhat blaring irony that I can't decide if the author stuck in intentionally. I think I've decided it was an oversight, since it was mentioned, but it's irony never brought out.   At one point the kids are trying to think of an example of a book nobody could disapprove.  Kate, the budding feminist, who has jumped on the anti-Huck Finn bandwagon for it's portrayal of women's place in society, suggests Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a book about which nobody could complain.  Since so many of the issues in Pride and Prejudice revolve around what we might consider very restrictive roles for women in society, it somewhat surprised me.  It was either done intentionally, in order to show the blunders any strongly opinionated person might sometimes stumble into, or it was sloppy work on the part of the author and editor.

Another interesting point of view is portrayed in a conversation about a new class offering the content of which is aimed at teaching different sides of cultural issues.  The stated goal is to pacify parents who might worry that teachers are too liberal on social issues.  The list of typical issues with which conservatives might be concerned:  flat earth, forced sterilization of the poor, and the use of military might against Russia.  (This was written in 1982).  I found it interesting that forced sterilization is portrayed as a conservative issue, since in its heyday, it was quite obviously a progressive issue. I also, even as an active Conservative, don't know too may people (read: any) who believe the earth is flat.

All in all this book could be useful for teaching about political activism, the role of community and parental involvement in schools, and the obvious topic of censorship and banning of books.  But I would say that a parent would want to read this book along with a child, because of the many shades of opinion portrayed.  The book also leads to a conclusion with which all parents may not totally agree.

I myself mostly agree with the solution, but there are things within the book I would have discussed further with a student.  I didn't like the way some of the opinions were presented and the slant that was taken toward some viewpoints.