The RAHM Report for 5/21/18

What I Finished Reading

I read for Bout of Books every day this week except Friday and ended up finishing six books. That's down quite a bit from the first few times I did Bout of Books, but up from my recent average of 3-4 books per week. I'm already looking forward to the next Bout of Books in August! Here's what I read, and the Goodreads rating I gave to each book:

• Wild Blues by Beth Kephart (digital ARC) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  This book was beautifully written just like the author's previous YA title, This is the Story of You. My review will be published on May 30. 
• Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles (read on Open Library) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I have The Aurora County All-Stars sitting on my nightstand but I wanted to read the series in order so I borrowed this first book from Open Library. It was mostly very sweet, but I was caught a bit off-guard when the main character made a reference to strip poker. It was so out of place.  But I liked the book overall. 
• By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman (hardcover) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  I was not crazy about this book at first, as the Gold Rush is not a topic that has ever really grabbed my interest. But this tale of a boy and his butler sailing to California to seek their fortunes ended up being a really fun (and funny) adventure story. The 1967 film adaptation - Disney's The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin - was entertaining, too, though the ending deviates quite a bit from the book.
• The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall (ebook) ⭐⭐
  This was such a disappointment. My review will be up on Wednesday of this week.
• The Princeton Impostor by Ann Waldron (paperback) ⭐⭐
  This was a strange cozy mystery. Everything about it was very tame and gentle most of the time, but then sometimes there would be 2 or 3 f-bombs on the same page. It didn't bother me, but it struck me as odd. The dialogue also felt stilted and the mystery dragged. This was the last book of the series, but the only one I've read, and I won't be seeking out any others.
• Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern (audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  Though I was initially put off by the audiobook narrator's mispronunciation of calliope as "callie opie," that wound up being the only mistake, and the word wasn't used again after the first couple of chapters. I did enjoy spending another book with Ellison, who was her usual witty and snarky self, and I do generally enjoy Callie Beaulieu's narration. 

What I'm Currently Reading

I have really only looked at the first page of each of these, but this is what is on my reading list for this week:

• Sixpence in her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley
  I borrowed this essay collection about the American housewife in 1960 after my husband sent me an article about her from The National Review. There are now 5 people waiting behind me and my loan ends on Saturday, so this is my top priority for the next few days.
• Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
  This is the book that comes between Love, Ruby Lavender and The Aurora County All-Stars, and it is also checked out to me from Open Library. I expect to be able to read it in just a couple of hours.,
• Lakeside Cottage by Susan Wiggs
  The weather is finally warm, so I'm ready for a light summery read. I hope to at least get halfway through this one this week. 
• The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
  I've been meaning to start this for weeks. I will definitely do so this week. I've had a good long break from Three Pines and I'm eager to go back!

I'll be linking up today with Unleashing Readers/Teach Mentor Texts and Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Book Review: Dandelion Cottage by Carroll Watson Rankin (1904)

Bettie (12 years old), Mabel (11), Jean (14), and Marjory (13) are four young girls who are neighbors and best friends. When they discover that an empty cottage has been standing on the property of their local church since long before the church even existed, they long to fix it up as a playhouse. Fortunately, Mr. Black, one of the church wardens, is fond of the girls, and he agrees to let them have the house in exchange for their hard work pulling the dandelions that have grown up around it. The girls complete this task and go on to turn the ramshackle building into a very admirable playhouse. When new neighbors move in next door, however, Dandelion Cottage is suddenly under attack, and the girls must work to save it from being taken away from them.

This book, which I bought in hardcover, but which is also available on Project Gutenberg, is an utterly charming story of friendship, resourcefulness, and fun. The four girls each have their own distinct personalities, and these create much of the tension in the early parts of the story as they work out how best to use the little cottage. The girls also have many small adventures as a result of spending time in the cottage, including hosting an overnight guest, planning a dinner party, and protecting the house from the bratty daughter of the new neighbors. The story is a wonderful testament to the ingenuity of kids and the value of using their imaginations to make their own fun.

My oldest daughter is only four, but she already reads on a second or third grade reading level, so I am constantly thinking ahead to books that will be challenging enough for her in the next few years that will also be age-appropriate in terms of content for a child of six or seven. Though the characters in this book are significantly older than that, the conflicts they face and the details of their home decorating are exactly the kind of thing that will appeal to her, and there is nothing in the book at all that I would consider inappropriate or beyond her understanding. The text, meanwhile, is just descriptive enough to pose a bit of a challenge to a reader at a fourth or fifth grade level. I think it will be a perfect choice for her to read independently as her reading ability progresses, but it could work just as well as a read-aloud. The story moves quickly, and the chapters are the perfect length.

To my great excitement, this book turns out to be the start of a four-book series! The sequels are also available from Project Gutenberg: The Adopting of Rosa Marie, The Castaways of Pete's Patch, and Girls of Highland Hall. I imagine that anyone who has loved the Betsy-Tacy books, The Railway Children, or even The Boxcar Children will be as pleased as I was to discover this wonderful little quartet.

Book Review: Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant (2018) (ARC)

Flora Smallwood and her parents live in Rosetown, Indiana, home to Flora's favorite used bookstore, Wings and a Chair, her new friend Yury, who has moved from the Ukraine and shares her love for vintage children's books, and her oldest friend, Nessy, who has been by her side since the girls were five years old. Flora loves Rosetown, but she does not love the feelings of uncertainty surrounding the recent death of her dog, her parents' separation, and the start of fourth grade.  Thankfully, however, in idyllic Rosetown, nothing terrible seems to last too long.

This gentle novel set in 1972 and 1973 is perfect for sensitive readers who like quieter, more introspective stories with minimal conflict and definite positive resolutions. Though there are problems facing Flora in this book, they are mostly the problems of everyday life as a nine-year-old, and each of these ends up on a hopeful note.

Rosetown itself is much like the little towns that often serve as backdrops to cozy mysteries, and all the little shops and their proprietors really appealed to me. While no small town is ever this perfect in reality, it can often feel that way to the kids who grow up there, and I think Rylant really does a nice job of highlighting Flora's all-encompassing love for her hometown, which makes it appear idyllic in her young eyes.

I was also thrilled to see a reference to the "new" Cricket magazine, to which Flora's teacher suggests she submit a story. Unfortunately, after reading Ms. Yingling's review, I learned that Cricket didn't begin publication until September of 1973, while Flora's teacher shows her a copy already printed in April. This doesn't ruin the story, but it is annoying, especially because the publication date of the first issue is readily available on Wikipedia and because pushing the whole story just one year into the future could have solved the problem!

Because of Flora's love for vintage and used books, this book is particularly appealing to me and my family, and I am probably biased in its favor. Even so, I think there is a lot to like about this book, especially for third and fourth graders who are ready for novels with descriptive language but maybe don't want to read about the concerns of middle schoolers just yet. I have been lamenting the loss of this type of short and sweet middle grade novel in recent years; I hope this book represents the beginning of its return.

The RAHM Report for 5/14/18

Bout of Books

Bout of Books 22 is this week! I'll be updating daily on Twitter and will share my progress for the entire week here next Monday.

What I Finished Reading

• Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant (digital ARC)
  This is a short and sweet, gentle novel set in a small idyllic town in the 1970s. I enjoyed the way it was written and the fact that the main character enjoys vintage books and used bookstores. My review will publish to the blog tomorrow.
• Post-Mortem by Patricia Cornwell, audiobook read by C.J. Critt
  I read this eight years ago according to my Goodreads account, but I had no memory of it, so I decided to listen to the audiobook. It was very good, especially toward the end when the truth started to come out. I'm planning to listen to the second book soon.
• Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura M. Berquist
  I skimmed the second half of this book since middle school and high school curricula won't be relevant to me for another 8 or 9 years, but I found the author's approach to homeschooling very compatible with my plans. I'll have a full review up on Goodreads later this week. 
• The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil (review copy)
  This is a YA romance novel with a few things in common with John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. It was very slow to start, but was surprisingly emotional as it went on and the two main characters got to know each other. Review coming soon. 
• Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea by Lynne Rae Perkins (digital ARC)
  Like this author's All Alone in the Universe  and Criss-Cross, this is another realistic fiction book where it feels like not much happens. The writing is very strong, but not every is going to gravitate toward the story. My review will be up in a week or so, hopefully.
  

What I'm Currently Reading

• By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman
  I keep forgetting that I'm reading this. I will really try to remember to finish it this week.
• The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach by Jerry West (ebook)
  I'm reading this one with my four-year-old. She loves it, but I think the first two books were better.
• Wild Blues by Beth Kephart (digital ARC)
  I loved Beth Kephart's YA novel, This is the Story of You, so I could not pass up the chance to read this new middle grade book involving a prison break in the Adirondacks. I've read four chapters and the writing is just beautiful. I have a feeling this will be the book I focus on the most this week. 
• Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern, audiobook read by Callie Beaulieu
  I just started the audiobook of this cozy mystery. It's good so far, except that the narrator keeps pronouncing the word "calliope" as "callie opie" and it's completely distracting. 

I'll be linking up today with Unleashing Readers/Teach Mentor Texts and Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Fumbling Through Fantasy: The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (1974)

Kate Sutton and her sister Alicia are ladies-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth, sister and (eventual successor) to Queen Mary I. When Alicia commits an act of foolishness, Kate is blamed for it and subsequently banished to Elvenwood Hall, also called the Perilous Gard. Here Kate meets Sir Geoffrey Heron, the man who has been charged with looking after her, as well as Geoffrey's brother, Christopher. Christopher has been blamed for the disappearance and presumed death of Geoffrey's young daughter Cecily, but Kate recognizes immediately that the circumstances under which she went missing do not follow logic. As she and Christopher investigate further, it becomes clear that tales of the "fairy folk" living beneath the Perilous Gard are not just stories, but factual accounts. Fairies have taken Cecily, and though her return brings great relief to Christopher and Kate both, it marks only the beginning of their own great trials in fairyland.

This novel, which received a Newbery Honor in 1975, is a complex blend of history, mystery, romance, and English folklore (especially the ballad, Tam Lin). Though the characters are strong, it is really the plot that drives the story, and I was hooked on the mysterious aspects of the book from the first moment Kate laid eyes on Elvenwood Hall. The writing, though not especially flowery, is still quite descriptive, and it gives the reader very concrete and memorable images of important moments in the story.  There is also a strong sense of suspense throughout the book, and while this is temporarily relieved at some points, the unsettling feeling remains even through the perfectly ambiguous ending, which just compounds the emotional impact of the whole story.

In terms of content, I would say this is primarily a book for middle school and maybe even high school readers. The romantic elements are minimal (and marriage is always their end goal), but I do think these situations are most likely to be appreciated by kids who are past the "kissing is gross" phase of childhood.  There are also a ton of historical references and allusions to folklore that most kids won't know, regardless of age, (I didn't know most of them myself!) but which middle school kids are most likely to grasp if they seek them out, or have them presented to them by an adult. There is also a lot of subtle commentary on paganism and Christianity that I don't think younger kids would be ready to grapple with, but which would spark lots of interesting discussion amongst eighth graders. For my own kids, I'll plan to use this book when we study the Medieval/Early Renaissance for the second time, during the Logic stage of the Classical Trivium. This should roughly line up with the start of middle school (6th grade), and hopefully it will be a nice complement to the factual historical texts we'll be using.

Elizabeth Marie Pope only wrote two books: this one, and The Sherwood Ring. Personally, I think I connected more with The Sherwood Ring because its fantasy elements were so straightforward, and I felt more comfortable with its American History references because they were more familiar to me. Personal preference aside, however, The Perilous Gard is probably the better book from a critical standpoint. The writer's craft is more finely honed in this second novel, probably owing to the 16-year gap between the two books, and it just feels like the story has more depth that would reward multiple re-readings. The Sherwood Ring is more of a romance novel with fantasy elements, whereas The Perilous Gard ties many threads together into a story that is not easily pigeonholed into one category.

The RAHM Report for 5/7/18

What I Finished Reading

• Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman
  I am definitely going to read more from this series. I enjoyed Tess and her friends and family, and I'll be curious to see how her PI career develops as the books go on. 
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
  I didn't get very much reading done this week because I became consumed by the audio version of Ender's Game. I was so caught up in the world of the story, that I was kind of ruined for other books while I was in the midst of reading this one. Also, I'm shocked that children read this book. It's definitely for an older teen/adult audience!
• More Milly-Molly-Mandy by Joyce Lankester Brisley
  I've been reading this aloud at lunchtime, and finally finished this week. The stories are all little stand-alone adventures of Millicent Margaret Amanda, nicknamed Milly-Molly-Mandy, who lives with her family in an English village in the 1930s. 

What I'm Currently Reading

• Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant
  I really can't believe I haven't finished this yet! I'm hoping to have it done by the end of today.
• By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman
  I don't think I touched this book at all this week. I'll probably end up assigning a number of pages to read per day to make sure I actually get it done by the end of the week. 
• Post-mortem by Patricia Cornwell
  I've read this before, but I've forgotten the details so I'm listening to the audiobook to get back into the series. I'm having a little trouble getting into it because Ender's Game is still on my mind, but now that it's the only audiobook I'm listening to, it should be a bit easier to focus.
• Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura M. Berquist
  I'm finding this book's resources for teaching the Catholic faith to kids very useful. I've read a few homeschool books, but this is the only one that has actually made me want to start getting more organized before our oldest turns five this fall. 
• The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil
  I've only read the first few pages, but I'm looking forward to getting into this one a bit more this week. 

I'll be linking up today with Unleashing Readers/Teach Mentor Texts and Book Date for It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Book Review: The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West (1953)

There are seven people in the Hollister family: Mr. Hollister, who has just opened a store called the Trading Post in his new hometown of Shoreham, his wife, and their five children: Pete, Pam, Ricky, Holly, and Sue. In this first volume of the mystery series named for this cheerful family, the kids try to solve two mysteries. One is that the small moving truck containing all of their toys never shows up to their new house, but the toys keep appearing in the possession of different people all over town.  The other is about the house itself, which some say is haunted, and which the Hollisters are certain has been visited by an intruder on multiple occasions since their arrival. As they work to uncover clues in both cases, the Hollister children also get to know their neighbors: Tinker, who takes a job working for their father, Ann and Jeff, who welcome them with open arms, and Joey Brill, who antagonizes the family with his cruelty and occasional violence and generally wreaks havoc everywhere he goes.

This vintage mystery is similar in both tone and content to The Boxcar Children and Bobbsey Twins books. The characters mostly have very generic upbeat personalities, but their never-ending opportunities for adventure make them appealing to young readers. Though the mysteries form the central plot of this book, the kids' effort to discover clues also provides many chances for them to fall into danger or to have an exciting experience that brings vicarious enjoyment to the child reader. Nearly every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, which may seem silly to an adult reading them aloud, but which has made my four-year-old want to sit through as many as six chapters in one sitting.

The writing in this book has an old-fashioned flavor to it, which feels a bit more formal in comparison with newer chapter book mysteries. The characters all speak to each other in the language you might expect to hear on a 1950s radio or TV sit-com, and sometimes the dialogue just sounds unnatural. The Hollister kids also rarely do anything wrong, whereas Joey Brill can't seem to do anything right. This gets old after a while, and is certainly unrealistic, but it is also appealing to young kids who are still sorting out the black-and-white definitions of right versus wrong. My four-year-old loves to become indignant on behalf of the Happy Hollisters whenever Joey Brill comes on the scene, and she worries each time one of the Hollisters ends a chapter in an uncertain or dangerous situation.

I originally started to read this book because it was free for Kindle one day and I was curious. Then I started reading it to my daughter when we were sitting in the car with a sleeping baby while my husband ran an errand, and she took such a liking to it, we are now well into the second book. I'm not sure how this series  would hold up for older kids who have already been exposed to very action-packed and highly fantastical stories, but for kids who have yet to read a mystery, it is a great first introduction to the conventions of the genre without a lot of scary situations. Even the most dire circumstances are painted with a light brush, and these characters make it feel safe to explore some edgier storylines. My plan is to use them to pave the way for my daughter to read The Boxcar Children independently when she is ready.