Classics Review: The Birchbark House

Title: The Birchbark House
Author: Louise Erdrich
Length: 239 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 3-7

Three adjectives that describe this book: slow, memorable, interesting

A book designed to transport you into the daily life of an Ojibwa family in the mid 1800s. Not only does The Birchbark House meet this goal, but it does so quite vividly. This is not a plot-driven novel, but instead all about the characters and setting. It follows a family over the course of one year, so we experience all that it takes to survive in the Great Lakes region. The characters hunt, fish, and farm. They create clothing, spend time with friends, and celebrate with their neighbors. They build homes suited to each season, and must survive a challenging winter. They encounter changes brought by the white men, and make decisions about how to deal with these changes. This is a quiet story, but would be great for any middle grade reader who is interested in the lives of native peoples.

On a side note - As an adult reader, I kept sensing the clock ticking in the background, knowing that the story is set in 1847, and that the characters in this story would not continue the rhythms of life, as established by their ancestors, for much longer. It was a strange feeling to be the observer who knows more than the characters about their futures.

3.5 stars

Classics Review: The Book of Three

Premise: When Hen Wen, an oracle pig, goes missing, Taran sets off on a quest to find her before the evil Horned King and his men. Along the way he joined by a diverse band including bards, magicians, and dwarfs. They must escape capture, battle magical creatures, and ultimately find that pig.

Title: The Book of Three
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Length: 190 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: First book of a trilogy
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-8
Format: Audiobook from the library

Three adjectives that describe this book: action-packed, fun, lacking

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

I bet if I were in the target audience (maybe grades 4-6) I would love this book. There was a ton of action and the story moved quickly. As a teacher of students in this age group, I know that most of them are looking for books with a lot of action, most haven't quite figured out how to incorporate character development and world-building. So this book is perfect for them. A straight-forward quest novel, moving from one danger to another, with some comic relief built in.

With Lord of the Rings coming about 20 years before this book, it felt almost as if Lloyd Alexander was trying to bring that format to younger readers. Yes, Tolkien gave us The Hobbit for young readers, but even that has quite a bit of complexity that is more suited to upper-middle grades and YA readers. So, The Book of Three fills a nice void for the 1960s.

Cartoon version of Hen Wen the pig & Taran the pigkeeper

But I wanted more development, both character AND world. We jumped from one event to another, with an array of characters who get little more than a cursory exploration. Folks join the band of questers without much thought, or any backstory. And the questers, themselves, make decisions about where to go and changes in course without any real clarity about what is happening. I pretty much stayed confused. Where are they going? Why? What does it look like? Who are those villains?

And the ending really really irritated me. We had to experience the climax battle with the villain second-hand because the main character was unconscious through the whole thing. Boo. Such a cop out. The Book of Three may have broken some ground for middle grade quest novels, but I'm glad that later titles made the genre more compelling and complete.

Classics Club Spin #9

The Classics Clubs is hosting its ninth spin event. For the spin, you simply choose 20 books in 4 categories. The moderators will announce a random number and whatever title in your list corresponds to the number, that's the book you read by May 15th. My list for the spin is below. To see my entire list of 50 books for the Classics Club check out my official list.

5 Books I'm Hesitant to Read
1. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
2. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George <---- The Winner!
3. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
4. Frindle by Andrew Clements
5. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

5 Books I'm Excited About
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
7. Watership Down by Richard Adams
8. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
9. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
10. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

5 Books I'm Neutral About
11. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
12. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
13. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
14. A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck
15. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

5 Books I'll Have to Hunt For
16. Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer
17. The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Patterson
18. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
19. The Storm by Cynthia Rylant
20. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Classics Review: Nancy Drew #1

Premise: Wealthy Josiah Crowley has died, but his relatives and friends are shocked to find that he left his entire estate to the mean, already-wealthy Topham family. When Nancy learns that Josiah had promised an inheritance to many needy families, she goes searching for Mr. Crowley's hidden will.

Title: The Secret of the Old Clock
Author: Carolyn Keene
Length: 192 pages
Genre: Mystery
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 in the long-running Nancy Drew series
Content appropriate for: Grades 3-6
Format: Hardback gifted to me by a student

Three adjectives that describe this book: simple, predictable, disappointing

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

Apparently Nancy Drew books really work for lots of people. There are a great many nostalgic 5-star reviews. Now as a 30-something, this was my first time reading a Nancy Drew, and I was underwhelmed. 

Nancy comes off as a bit snobby and entitled. The supporting characters are ridiculously flat, and always single-minded. The central mystery hinged on locating a missing will, and I found myself not caring much about it. I mean, of course she'll find the will and the poor folks will get the money they've been promised. Duh. Classic, over-done scenario.

Overall, it probably only warrants 2 stars from me, but the extra star is because so many people credit Nancy with getting them started as readers.

Classics Review: The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Premise: Kenny's older brother, Byron, is getting into trouble. Whether it's picking on Kenny, or starting fires, his parents don't know what to do with him. So the Watsons decide a trip south from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama is in order, so that Byron can spend the summer with his grandmother.

Title: The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

Length: 210 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Content appropriate for: Grades 4-6

Format: Audiobook narrated by LeVar Burton

Three adjectives that describe this book: amusing, engaging, memorable

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

I first read The Watsons Go to Birmingham in 2001, just a year after its publication. At the time, I wasn't paying much attention to middle grade literature. *Hanging my head in shame*  Now, after inundating myself in middle grade and YA lit for the last 3 years, I see this book in a whole new way.

Let me first say that I listened to the audio version of The Watsons, narrated by the amazing LeVar Burton. I will always think of him first as Geordi (Star Trek) and next as the Reading Rainbow host. I wondered if this familiarity with Mr. Burton would interfere with my ability to believe in the character voices. But, LeVar Burton rocked this narration. His character voices are distinct, but they are also infused with the personality of each character. From lighthearted Dad, to cool-daddio Byron, and self-conscious Kenny, Mr. Burton gave us a real sense of who these people are.

Although the cover and premise may make you think, "Oh no! Not another serious book about Civil Rights," The Watsons Go to Birmingham is super fun. Curtis works in lots of funny moments. To get a good sense of the feel of the story, check out this book trailer, produced by the Lexington, KY library system:

I think what makes The Watsons so special is that it's NOT a book about the Civil Rights movement or about being black in America. 

So many books about this era put The Struggle front-and-center. And that's great. But it has led my rural, white students to think of black history only as either slavery or Civil Rights, without all of the other elements or seeing black people as simply people.

This book spends the first 150 pages or so establishing that this is just a normal family. They are regular people. We don't really discuss or experience racism until the last section of the book. This works because it eases us into the terror felt by regular Birmingham families around the church bombings. We care about these characters as people, and feel truly horrified that such violence could be visited upon them.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham is truly deserving of all its recognitions.

Side Note: I haven't seen the Hallmark movie version of this book (2013), but when I was searching for a video to include in this post, I was irritated at how they added in so many Civil Rights elements that weren't in the book - protests and sit-ins and so on. That really undermines my point, that a great book about the Civil Rights era doesn't actually have to be about the Civil Rights Movement.

Book Review: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Premise: Minli's family is poor, working in the fields all day for just enough food to eat. Enchanted by her father's folk tales, Minli sets off on a quest to find The Old Man of the Moon, who she believes can change her family's fortune.

Title: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Author: Grace Lin
Length: 278 pages
Genre: Fantasy / Folk Tale
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 3-5

Three adjectives that describe this book: easy to read, entertaining, mystical

In Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin weaves together traditional Chinese folktales with her own twists and additions to create a beautiful story that captures the beauty of this ancient genre. In the wonderful Author's Note at the end of the book, Lin explains where some of her inspiration came from, noting that it's sometimes difficult to parse out exactly which pieces in the book are traditional Chinese tales, which are her own invention, and which elements are a mix of the two.

Although this book is nearly 300 pages long, it reads incredibly quickly. I finished it in about a day. I think this speed is a mix of both short-ish chapters, and a well-crafted story. The writing is complete, with detail to develop world and character, but nothing extraneous.

The novel is littered with separate tales, interrupting the flow of the story. I found this odd, until they all started to fit together. In the end, these tales turned out to be one of my favorite elements. Reading this book was kind of like examining a quilt, where all the parts fit perfectly.

And Grace Lin's illustrations!? Oh man - this whole book is beautiful! If you can, get the print edition because the colors and layout are SO worth it!

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. From the traditional Chinese feel, so carefully crafted by a talented, modern author, to the outstanding character development and pacing, to the beautiful presentation of the story. I can see why this book won a Newberry Honor and continues to be placed on all kinds of reading and honors lists. Outstanding!

4.5 stars

Classics Review: Maniac Magee

Premise: Jeffrey Lionel Magee, called Maniac, is on his own in a town that's divided. Along the way, Maniacs gain epic status as a master knot-untangler, baseball hitter, and football catcher. He also discovers caring families of all shapes and colors.

Title: Maniac Magee
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Length: 184 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-7
Format: Audiobook narrated by S. Epatha Merkerson

Three adjectives that describe this book: complex, fun, memorable

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

Even though Maniac Magee is a school classic, required reading in 4th and 5th grades, I had not read it until now. I chose to read Maniac Magee as an audiobook, and S. Epatha Merkerson's narration was exceptional.

Much of the novel was written as a tall tale. For instance, at one point he faces a pitcher who has struck out every single batter. Yet Maniac hits the first pitch, and continues to hit every single one afterward - even when the pitcher hurls a frog instead of a baseball.

This narrative style makes the story fun, but it also raises the complexity of the text. When my 5th grade students discuss Maniac Magee, it's clear that they see these events as actual, rather than exaggerated. I wish Spinelli had made the tall tale aspect more explicit.

As the story progresses, some great things emerge. Maniac spends time with wonderful families, and some that are struggling. I love that Jerry Spinelli explored both ends of this spectrum.

Some other things I loved:
* Explicit discussion of racial issues
* Both positive and negative figures that are both black and white
* A fascinating father-figure who is homeless
* Learning is highly valued both in and out of school

Overall, I can see why Maniac Magee is loved by teachers everywhere. Many students love it too, but others find it lacking in action.

4.5 stars

Book Review: Ella Enchanted

Premise: As a newborn, Ella received a fairy's gift - to always be obedient. Ever since, she has to follow every command, from "sit down" to "run along." The obedience curse becomes even more troublesome when Ella's dad tries to find her a suitor. Now, Ella is desperate to find the fairy and reverse the curse. This quest leads to encounters with trolls, battles with ogres, and surprising discoveries.

Title: Ella Enchanted
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Length: 232 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Stand alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 5-8
Format: Paperback from classroom library

Three adjectives that describe this book: fun, amusing, creative

Ella Enchanted is a re-imagined Cinderella. All the elements are there - a prince, a ball, a pumpkin coach, glass slippers, and mean step-sisters. But this version has an entirely different Cinderella. She's feisty and funny and a joy to spend time with. And the fantasy creatures are fascinating - especially the mind controlling ogres!

Ella Enchanted is a Newberry Honor book and was made into a fun movie starring Anne Hathaway:

The added premise of the obedience curse made for a brilliantly woven web of complexity. And I was totally caught off-guard by the level of intelligent-humor in the story. Ella is super-witty, making this book straight-up fun. Of course, by its nature, this story has a central romance and I'm not much for romance. Luckily, both protagonists were intelligent and no one moped around mooning.

Highly recommended for people who like feisty, witty, female-protagonists and creative creatures in a familiar-ish world.

Classics Review: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Premise: When 13 year-old Brian finds himself stranded and alone in the North Canadian wilderness, he struggles against nature to keep himself alive.

Title: Hatchet
Author: Gary Paulsen
Length: 186 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 in Brian's Saga (5 books)
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-8
Format: Paperback from classroom library

Three adjectives that describe this book: adventurous, predictable, easy-to-read

I am in the middle of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

When I read Hatchet in 5th grade, I loved it. This time around, I really enjoyed the first half, but struggled with the ending. Brian's crash and first days of survival are palpable. The images in Paulsen's writing are clear and meaningful. The whole thing feels dangerous and immediate.

Then about halfway in, Paulsen decided to skip ahead 40 days and tell everything in flashback-y snapshots. This sudden shift really caught me off guard. I struggled with it. The tone slowed down, and so did the sense of near-death danger that was making Hatchet so great.

Finally, the very end is so sudden and cut short that it felt a bit like Paulsen got tired of his own story. We're going along with survival in the woods and then BAM a rescue plane appears and all is well in a neat little package.

So basically, I would give the first third of the book a near 5 stars, but it just goes downhill from there.

Classics Review: Alice in Wonderland

Premise: After following a strange rabbit down a super-deep hole, Alice finds herself in a magical land. During her time there, Alice interacts with a variety of strange creatures.

Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Length: 92 pages (depending on the edition)
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 of 2
Content appropriate for: Grades 6-8

Three adjectives that describe this book: strange, challenging, confusing

I am in the middle of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books. I really enjoyed The Wizard of Oz, and for some reason I expected Alice in Wonderland to be a similar experience. Wrong Wrong Wrong. So hold onto your hat, because I'm about to get very blasphemous.

Okay, enough stalling - here's my review:

Alice in Wonderland is strange. That's the main thing. Over the course of 100ish pages weird things happen. It almost reads like Lewis Carroll was just trying to figure out what the weirdest things were that could happen, and then he put those exact things all together in a book with absolutely no sense-making. Case in point:

List of Weird Things in the Book
* Swimming in a lake made of your own tears
* Rocks become cakes
* Dancing with lobsters
* Dancing with lobsters actually means throwing them in the ocean
* A baby that's really a pig
* Everything you eat or drink makes Alice (no one else...) grow or shrink over and over again

Apparently Alice in Wonderland is actually an example of a genre called Literary Nonsense. Maybe if I had known that, I would have been prepared for the insanity and lack of plot. But I, erroneously, expected a great story. Instead, it's just a collection of weird characters and strange events.

Most frustrating for me, was that large chunks of the story consisted of poems which Alice tries to recite. She makes mistakes each time, which she sees as proof that she must have changed. These pieces would make more sense if I actually knew the original poems. That way I would be able to spot the mistakes that Alice makes.

Ultimately, I'm not sure how to rate Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's a classic. Lots of people love it. It is a shining example of Literary Nonsense. But it is also bizarre, with no plot and almost no coherent world-building.

Classics Review: The Black Stallion

Premise: After being shipwrecked together, Alec and a mostly-wild horse begin an impossible quest to train and compete in horse racing.

Title: The Black Stallion
Author: Walter Farley
Length: 224 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Classic
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 of 19
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-6

Three adjectives that describe this book: predictable, engaging, easy-to-read

I am in the middle of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. Every so often the club hosts a Classics Spin in which a book is chosen randomly (ish). The Black Stallion is my book for Classics Spin #6 and it was listed as a "Book I'm Hesitant to Read." That's because I don't like horses, so I knew that The Black Stallion would be a real challenge for me.

Okay, enough stalling - here's my review:

I'm sure kids who love horses also love this book. It is very very horsey. I am freaked out by horses. Still, Black Stallion was a pretty engaging read. The plot drove forward without lingering on character development. That left the story thin and riddled with cultural stereotypes (the Italian immigrant, Tony, being the most offensive to me). Overall, I found myself more interested than I expected to be in the process of breaking a wild horse. Farley did a great job crafting Black and the scenes in which he interacted with young Alec.

My primary complaint is the way parents are handled in this book. Alec and his retired neighbor sneak off several days a week at midnight to ride the Black. They never tell his parents. They just say, "I hope they don't find out." And then when Alec finally tells them, they don't care. They just say okay and send him off to Chicago with two grown men they barely know! Really? Was that parenting in the 40s? Your kid does whatever he wants at all hours with strange adults and you don't know and don't care?

Classics Review: A Wrinkle in Time

Premise: The Murry children haven't seen their father, a physist, in years. Then Meg and Charles Wallace Murry, along with their friend Calvin, meet a strange old woman named Mrs. Who. Soon they are swept up in an adventure across time and space to save their father, and also the entire world, from a terrible evil.

Title: A Wrinkle in Time
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Length: 241 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 in the Time Quintet
Content appropriate for: Grades 6-12
Format: Audiobook from the digital public library

Three adjectives that describe this book: complex, captivating, nerdy

This science fiction classic was really cool. The good versus evil theme is explored across the universe, the alien planets are interesting, and the protagonists are complete and well developed. Charles Wallace made a brilliant 5 year old! I also appreciated the terrifying mind control employed by the book's antagonist. Once the group gets to the planet of Camazotz things get very very creepy - like Pleasantville, but way worse.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator (Hope Davis) did a terrific job. The voices of the Mrs. Ws were especially great.

I was a little weirded out by the random God references, though. They were forced and overly preachy. Hence the 4 stars instead of 5.

This review is part of my Classics Club challenge. It also qualifies for the TBR Pile Challenge, Audiobook Challenge, and the I Love Library Books Challenge.

Classics Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The movie for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz always freaked me out as a kid. Especially the flying monkeys. They are purely terrifying.

Plus, there's that whole thing where the Oz characters are actually people from Dorothy's life - double creepy!

So I was pretty hesitant to read the book.

At first it seemed really similar to the movie, so I was like, "Meh."
The beginning, however, was much better because it didn't waste any time in Kansas. Within the first 3 pages, Dorothy is zipped off in the tornado. There are no silly farm hands or evil neighbor-ladies or strange fortune tellers.

After that, it's pretty much the story you remember from the movie... up until the characters get to Oz!

In the book, the Emerald City is much more fleshed out. We get to see everything and even meet some of its inhabitants. Oz's palace is interesting and his reign is much more developed.

But here's the kicker - in the book, the characters have a whole adventure getting to the Wicked Witch of the West. It's really fascinating! The world is wonderfully developed. And the flying monkeys are NOTHING like in the movie. They're actually quite lovely, thank you very much.

Most interesting to me was:
* How much world-building Baum was able to do in just over 100 pages
* Baum doesn't sugar coat anything. Not even when the lion beheads an enemy with one swipe.

I loved this book!

Classics Review - The View From Saturday

Premise: A group of 4 quirky sixth graders shocks everyone, even their teacher, by making it to the championship round of the Academic Bowl.

Title: The View from Saturday
Author: E.L. Konigsburg
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Series or Stand-Alone: Stand-Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 5-7
Format: Paperback in school library

Three adjectives that describe this book: strange, sweet, disappointing

The View From Saturday won the Newberry Medal in 1997. It is required reading in classrooms all over the United States. It also has lots of die-hard fans. Last week when I read it, I was wholly disappointed, and even a bit disgusted.

Okay, maybe disgusted is too severe. Either way, this review is not going to be pretty. Here's the deal, as I see it -

The Classics Club

I love modern children's literature. I try to keep up with the popular books my students are reading. But I have a major book gap when it comes to the classics. They just seem so old and crusty and boring.

But I got to thinking that maybe some of these classics would be worth reading.

That's when I discovered The Classics Club, a group of people reading and blogging about classic books. When I joined last year, there were about 300 readers involved. I'm sure there is more now.

Here are the basics:

• Choose 50+ classics
• List them at your blog
• Choose a reading completion goal date up to five years in the future and note that date on your classics list of 50+ titles
• E-mail the moderators (theclassicsclubblog@gmail.com) with your list link and information and it will be posted on the Members Page
• Write about each title on your list as you finish reading it, and link it to your main list

My plan was to read one book per month, finishing in 4 years. So far I have read 10 books in 13 months. Not too bad, I guess.

My personal definition of a "children's classic" was a bit loose. I pulled a lot of my titles from School Library Journals' list of the Top 100 Children's Novels. Therefore it includes a few modern titles like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Because of Winn-Dixie. It also includes some poetry and nonfiction.

I love that The Classics Club allows you to define "classics" on your own, and that the list can be edited as you want. Check it out, join us, it's fun!

This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Classics Review: White Fang

My overall takeaway from White Fang is, "Wow! That book is violent!" Since the first 30% or so takes place in "the Wild," I didn't mind all the throat ripping - this was animals hunting for food, after all. This opening third of the book brought to mind National Geographic documentaries ~ Cue voiceover: "The wolf waits silently, hidden by the snow, for the unsuspecting squirrel to emerge from its tree."

Then, suddenly, the entire tone of the book changed. When White Fang begins to live with humans he is beaten by stones, sticks, and clubs. Rather than cast these 100+ pages of beatings as cruelty toward animals, Jack London explains that this treatment is laudable in White Fang's eyes. It's the only way he knows to obey a human.

Some might argue that White Fang ultimately learns that life is better with kind humans, but still... 100 pages of unquestioned brutality from humans was over the top for me.

The worst scenes for me were when White Fang began to kill for fun.

He slaughtered innocent, weaker dogs simply because it was his nature (according to Jack London). Once again, this period of his life was treated as commonplace. REALLY?

And what's the deal with describing white people as "superior" to Native Americans? Is this just an indication of the time in which the book was written?

Don't get me wrong, Jack London's writing is great. It's just that the content is so questionable.

My 5th graders love White Fang, but they read the abridged version (like the one on the right). They make a lot of changes in the White Fang abridged versions to make the story more palatable for young children. It seems like they want itto be a fun-loving dog story.

I would rather my students hold out for the real deal. Because this is so violent, and the vocabulary is incredibly dense, I recommend this book (in its unabridged form) to the 13+ crowd.

I read this book for The Classics Club, The TBR Pile Challenge, and the Take Control of Your TBR Pile Challenge.

Classic Review: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase has had many covers since it was first published in 1962.

At first glance, this appears to be a book about wolves, but it is actually about several humans who turn out to be more dangerous than the wolves who hunt the forests at night.

Set in 18th century England, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase centers on 2 girls who are being cared for by a distant relative while their wealthy guardians are away on a sea voyage. Things get off to a bad start when the governess, Miss Slighcarp, locks one of the girls in a closet and sells off all the children's toys. Soon we realize that this woman means to do more than just harm the children, she's out to claim the entire estate.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was a dark story of intrigue and cruelty. The children must sneak around to discover the truth, and even mastermind an escape plan from a terrible orphanage. This story is almost too terrible to bear, and that is exactly why some children will love it. These characters are in danger all the time.

However, three important things hold the novel back.
* The plot takes a long time to get interesting. My copy was 149 pages long, and I was bored to tears for the first 50.
* The language was really challenging for me. The sentences were structured in unnatural ways, and there was an overwhelming plethora of uncommon words. This will make the book really challenging for it's intended modern audience.
* For a novel that stakes it's claim solidly in the Dark and Mysterious category, it has a strangely happy ending. "And They All Lived Happily Ever After" was out of character.

Overall, I recommend this book as a read aloud for children ages 7-10.

I read this book for the Classics Club's Spin #5. The Classics Club is an ongoing challenge to read 50 classics in 5 years or less. Check out my list of classic books to read.

Classics Spin #5

The Classics Clubs is hosting its fifth spin event. For the spin, you simply choose 20 books in 4 categories. The moderators will announce a random number and whatever title in your list corresponds to the number, that's the book you read by April 20th. My list for the spin is below. To see my entire list of 50 books for the Classics Club check out my official list.

5 Books I'm Hesitant to Read
1. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
2. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
3. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
4. Frindle by Andrew Clements
5. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

5 Books I'm Excited About
6. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
7. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
8. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
9. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
10. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

5 Books I'm Neutral About
11. White Fang by Jack London
12. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
13. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
14. A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck
15. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

5 Books I'll Have to Hunt For
16. Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer
17. The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Patterson
18. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
19. The Storm by Cynthia Rylant
20. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken <--- THE WINNER!!

Classics Review: The 13 Clocks

You probably skip the Premise section of my book reviews. That's okay most of the time... but not this time.The 13 Clocks better than anything I've seen or read. I didn't write it myself. I stole it from Goodreads. But it was just to perfect to ignore. So just this once, be sure to read the premise:

Premise:
How can anyone describe this book? It isn't a parable, a fairy story or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery... There are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story, but they are basic:
* Everybody has always wanted to love a Princess.
* Everybody has always wanted to be a Prince.
* Everybody has always wanted the wicked Duke to be punished.
* Everybody has always wanted to live happily ever after.

Too little of this kind of thing is going on in the world today. But all of it is going on valorously in The 13 Clocks.

Title: The 13 Clocks
Author: James Thurber
Length: 128 pages
Genre: Fantasy / Classic
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 3-5

Three adjectives that describe this book: whimsical, fanciful, amusing

This classic pseudo fairy tale was so much fun to read. The story centers on an evil duke who sets impossible tasks for princes who want took marry the Princess Saralinda. The language of this story is so fun. It begs to be read aloud. Slipping frequently into poetry and word play. There are lots of places where the text hides fun rhythms and terrific rhymes sneak up. As Neil Gaiman says in the introduction, it slips easily and frequently into poetry.