The Book of the Maidservant

The Book of the Maidservant

By Rebecca Barnhouse

Summary:

It's the Middle Ages and young Joanna is growing up in a holy woman's household as her maidservant. Joanna's mistress, Dame Margery Kemp, is divorced and lives alone in Northern England. But one day, Dame Margery says to Joanna that the Lord had spoken to her and that he wants her to go on a pilgrimage to Rome with Joanna. Joanna has no choice, she must go and she must walk all day in bare feet. At the end of each day, she must cook, clean and wait on all of the other ladies and lords on the pilgrimage.

Joanna soon adapts to her new on-the-go life, but when the other pilgrims get fed up with Dame Margery, she decides to abandon the pilgrimage.  Joanna must continue onto Rome with the rest of the pilgrims, one of whom  is very dangerous.

She feels alone.
She feels lost.
She feels betrayed.
She feels scared.

Will she make it to Rome... alive?

Review:

The Book of the Maidservant was an unusual book with lots of interesting characters, but it still seemed to be missing something.

I absolutely adored the fact that this was a historical romance and I loved the way that the author described Joanna's life in the Middle Ages. Even though Joanna had a miserable life throughout her trip to Rome, the author somehow made it seem like it was an incredible adventure.

The plot was well thought-out, and Joanna's life and her travels were very interesting. I liked how on the trip to Rome she got to meet lots of different people and learn more about them.

I felt like I was living in the Middle Ages when I was reading this book. Rebecca Barnhouse, the author, did a very good job at describing what was going on around Joanna and what she saw, her descriptions were very vivid.

I think that what the book was missing, was progression of the story and of events. The whole story and all of its events seemed to be lingering on too much and I thought that if the book that been any longer I would have stopped and never restarted. I wish that the author could have made things happen more quickly.

Recommended for any tween or teen age 12+

What Katy Did

What Katy Did


By Susan Coolidge

Summary:


Katy is a lively twelve year old girl, growing up in a big house in the countryside with her six brothers and sisters. She is a very tall, carefree girl who is always untidy, with a tear in her dress and her hair forever in a tangle. She wants to be good, but she just never seems to be able to get out of her untidy ways. She has never cared about what other people think of her and wants to be 'something big' when she grows up. She is always up to some mischief or of on a so-called 'big' adventure with her best friend Cecy Hall. Katy has always been happy girl, just playing outside, inventing a story or doing something, that, in the end, will get her into trouble.

But one dramatic day, Katy has a terrible accident, one which would change her life forever...

She is forced to remember her old ways and all of her happy memories again, when she is told that she may never walk again.

Katy is completely devastated, but knows that she must find the courage to continue living a normal life and remember how happy she used to be...


Review:  


When I first picked up What Katy Did I was awaiting a story about some girl while she goes through some tough period in her life, but, What Katy Did is a feel-good book, full of tension and courage and is beautifully written.

Katy is such a wonderful character and she is very interesting to watch as she changes and adapts to her new life after her accident. At the beginning of the book, I didn't like her so much, though. I found that she was very bossy with her younger siblings and that she was not a character in a book that anybody would want to be like. But as the story progressed, I grew to like her more and more. She started to really reflect on what life was really about, and what she had been doing with her life and how selfish she had been.
I think that Susan Coolidge (author) does a wonderful job of portraying Katy as she changed, learned to accept and understand how she was going to continue living her newly changed life. Coolidge also did a superb job of weaving the lives of Katy's siblings with hers.

Katy's Cousin Helen, a character who appears at the end of the book, and who has a big impact on Katy's life was very, very well, (maybe even better than the other characters) described and I think that she was the character who I could picture the most, because she seemed very real and life like and she seemed to bring the book alive somehow. Her presence in the book made the story feel very alive and true, and I thank Coolidge for putter Helen in the book as she changed it so much!

I think that this is a book that could make teens all around the world laugh, cry and help them to accept who they are and why the are here, in the world.
What a wonderful read written by one of the only authors who can really make a character leap off of the page and any moment in the story....

An absolute must read!

Recommended for ages 14+

A Brief History of Montmary

A Brief History of Montmary

By Michelle Cooper

Summary:

It is 1936 and Princess Sophie FitzOsborne of Montmaray is living in Montmaray, an island in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, between France and Spain. She lives a crumbling castle with her sister Princess Henry (Henrietta) who insists she is a boy, with her cousin Princess Veronica and Veronica's mad father, King John the Seventh of Montmaray. Sophie isn't exactly the kind of princess that you might imagine her to be. She washes all of the dishes, mends all of the clothes, visits her subjects and helps them live (e.g, make a meal, wash the bed sheets). Although the FitzOsbornes are a royal family, they no longer have any servants, maids or cooks. They survive on their own. Veronica manages their finances along with her Aunt Charlotte (a rich aunt who lives in England). Sophie manages the household, Henry and her dog Carlos go fishing and watch for boats passing by with hope of sending a letter to her brother (and Sophie's) Toby, who is studying in England with Aunt Char'. They just manage to make it in life and Sophie, who has a crush on Simon, one of Toby's friends, is more than happy to be at Montamaray with her beloved cousin and best friend, Veronica.

This sharing of tasks seems alright -- until Germans invade the island. Sophie and Veronica are both extremely worried. They have no defense, or power. Aunt Char' soon invites the girls, along with Henry, to come and stay with her in England so that they can meet ‘suitable men.’ Sophie quickly agrees, wanting to escape from German-controlled Montmaray, but Veronica insists on staying, refusing to leave her beloved Montmaray.

Yet when bombs drop, Veronica is attacked by a German solider with an ax, King John has a stroke, someone is murdered, German spies rip up everything in Veronica's beloved library, Toby comes back and is almost killed. Everything and everyone that Sophie knows is about to change.

Little does Sophie know, there are even worse things on the horizon, waiting for her.

Montmaray and everything that Sophie loves, including Veronica's friendship towards her might be gone forever...

Review:

A Brief History of Montmaray is now officially my favorite book!

I should probably mention that the entire book is written as a journal. But what surprised me most about A Brief History of Montmaray, is that the journal was written SO well, as if it was just the narrator telling us the story. It is unbelievable how well written and described all of the events are. I have read some other journals (that, of course have been made into books) and they now seem very dull compared to this journal. Sophie tells us how everyone looked and seemed at a specific event, and she gives us the answers that we want at the right time in the story. It makes the reader feel more involved with the story.

I love the characters in the story. Henry makes me laugh on end as she is always making unnecessary remarks and observations! Veronica is obsessed with historical facts and she is always spitting them out. I love history and historical books, so Veronica amazes me whenever she talks. King John is someone who makes you think, because he has lost his wife, feels lost in the world and is still in shock from the Great War in which he fought. He makes you think, and reminds you that you are different from other people. And finally, Princess Sophie, our heroine, is the most wonderful character that you could ever read about. She is so full of life, happiness and is brave. Whenever I read about her, I am inspired to become a strong, brave and very intellectual person.

One other bit about the story that made it so interesting is the fact that Montmaray is a made up place. I like that it is made up because we (the readers) don’t already know anything about this place so we can’t judge it based on what we already know about it. We get to read about a new place.  

I especially like the way that the book is written. The author, Michelle Cooper, has a very nice and smooth, that is to say, an easy-to-follow style of writing. It is very enjoyable to read a book that is written as well as this one. 

I look forward to reading more of Cooper's books and hopefully the second Montmaray book (it has just been published)! I hope that it is underneath the Christmas tree, wink, wink!

Recommended to any tween 12-13+

294 pages

P.S.#1 Thanks to Sarah at KidsBooks in Vancouver for recommending this book to me. It was an absolute pleasure to read! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S.#2 Please note that we will be having a guest blogger next week for this year's Tween Bookworm Christmas Surprise! 

Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine

By Ray Bradbury

Summary:

It's 1928 and Douglas Spaulding is a 12 year old boy living in a big house, with his big family, in Illinois. It's summer and Douglas is excited. All he wants this summer, is a summer full of running around on freshly cut grass, a summer of wearing-in new tennis shoes, devouring delicious ice cream and dandelion wine making. Douglas Spaulding's favorite summer activity is dandelion wine making. He loves blending dandelions with other tasty fruits, adding the water, mixing it, beating it and pouring the result into bottles.

But this summer, Douglas wants to do more than sitting around his yard beating dandelions and making dandelion wine. He and his younger brother Tom want to leave their big house, packed to the roof with grandparents and cousins. They want to have adventures. They want to explore, to discover everything the world has to offer, but most importantly, they want to have an interesting and adventure-filled summer.

When the adventures begin Douglas and Tom soon realize that there are bigger mysteries in the world that they are not yet ready to take on -- they have a lot of life skills to learn in the summer of 1928.

Review:

When I first started reading Dandelion Wine I found it boring. After reading the back cover I was expecting tons of adventures and excitement. The book is filled with adventures and excitement, but I didn't understand this until the end of the book.  Dandelion Wine is not like the books I usually read (it was a school assignment).  It is not a modern-day book or a historical book; the story takes place about 80 years ago.

As we read the first couple of pages of the book we meet some of Douglas's family who all live in the same house as him. All of the Spauldings live in his house; grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters and more. It was a fun little introduction but after a couple of chapters of 'Grandpa dropped that...' and 'Tom did this...' it gets a to be a bit boring and it seems like the story isn't really starting.

After the first couple of chapters we learn that Douglas wants to experience "everything in the entire world" in summer of 1928, and how he wants his life to be a big adventure which will begin that summer.

As the book progresses, we meet some of Douglas and Tom's friends. All of the boys play together, and that is an interesting topic to read about (I find).  It turned out to be a very interesting way to learn about a boy's life in 1928. We read about what sports they played, what sweets (candy) they ate and what they wore. When you think about it, you probably don't really know what a group of 12 year old boys growing up in 1928 would do in summer. It is an uncommon topic, but, let's say, an educational topic.

However the 'story' never seems to start. But it does. You just don't realize it until the end of the book. The book isn't exactly a story with adventure, it is, as I like to call it, a 'thinking' story.  It is a book that makes you think and you don't realize it until the end.  This is a story of a young boy learning, but as it develops in your mind, you are learning as well. This book makes you think about your life and everything that you have already learnt or that are in the middle of learning.

I would recommend Dandelion Wine to any tween ready to learn.

Note: There is a sequel to this book which was written in 2006 (almost 50 years later).  It is called Farewell Summer and follows Douglas in the summer of 1929.

Ages 12+

239 pages

The Wheel Of Surya

The Wheel of Surya

Jamila Gavin

Summary: 

It's 1947 and Punjabi children Marvinder and Jaspal Singh are 9 and 6 years old. They live with their mother Jhoti (age 22), and the family of their father, Govind, in the Punjab. Marvinder and Jaspal have only met their father twice because he travels so often and rarely returns home to his family. Everyday Jhoti struggles to provide and care for her children because she works from dawn to dusk as a kitchen maid. Since Marvinder is a girl she must stay home and amuse herself all day, every day and she is not allowed to help her mother with her work. Jaspal, though, must attend school all day because he is supposed to follow in is father's footsteps and become an international businessman. Jhoti and her children long to live a different life.

When Jaspal and Marvinder are separated from their mother and their father leaves for England without them, they are scared but know that their father's family will take care of them. But when a fight in their village turns into a fire and the entire village (including many people) goes up in flames, Marvinder rescues Jaspal and is determined to leave India and go and find their father in England.

Marvinder and Jaspal are soon taking on the biggest adventure on their lives, traveling on a cruse ship, arriving in a new, strange culture and trying adapt to a different life style. The two children soon find out that there is more than a new culture waiting for them in England, there is betrayal…

Review:

I love The Wheel Of Surya for lots of reasons, but I have main two reasons why: #1- the timeline. I love how we follow Marvinder and Jaspal at different time periods of their lives. I feel like I grow with them. #2: the characters. Since Govind has a HUGE family there are a lot of characters and we are introduced to ALL of them and I love how the author made tons of characters in the book. I am an only child so I love reading about big families because it makes me think of what it would have been like if I had brothers or sisters (not that I want any, judging from the way my friends talk about their siblings!). All of the characters in the book are all their own person and all have a different sense of humor, and are each fun to read about. Some characters are bad, some are good, some are always confused and cluedout (which is always funny to read about!) and some are just trying to survive and 'get by' in life.

Now let's talk more about the actual story:

I think that the time period that was chosen for the story was a good choice. The time period is just after the Second World War ended and they still have ration cards (in England), so we get to learn a bit about them and that is interesting because we don't use ration cards today! I also liked learning about how Marvinder and Jaspal adapted to the English culture. Indians have a very different culture and way of doing things compared to the English and in the book we learnt about both cultures. Another interesting bit about The Wheel of Surya is that we learn about how people travelled and commuted just after the war had ended.

The Wheel of Surya touched my heart a lot for one other BIG reason, and that reason is that my grandmother was born in India and lived there for a short time when she was a child, then she traveled to England to go to school. She was in England on her own, so I feel like Marvinder's feelings are a little like my grandmother's. I would also like to mention that my grandmother read the book and thought that it was fantastic and portrayed a bit of her childhood life (since she also lived in the Punjab)!

Please note that this book was a required summer reading book for my school, so I did not choose to read it. Although I'm happy that I did read it!

Again, I am SO sorry for making you wait so long for another review, but I will tell you that I have a back-to-school must-read booklist coming out this weekend!

288 pages

At the House of the Magician

At the House of the Magician 

By Mary Hooper


Summary:

Lucy is a young women living in the Elizabethan era with her mother and father. She and her mother sell gloves and lavender wands for a living and Lucy's father gambles and drinks. Lucy dreams of leaving her father and of becoming a lady-in-waiting for her Majesty. 

One evening, after Lucy's father gambles all of the family's money and furniture away,  Lucy knows that she cannot stay with her father any more. She and her mother agree that she must leave at once but promise to come back and rescue her mother when she has enough money to take her away from her husband and live safely.

The next morning Lucy leaves her mother and decides to walk along the Thames all the way to London. On her way there she meets some children playing outside a almost-abandoned castle and finds out that their parents are looking for maids and will start them working as soon as possible. Lucy is eager to start working and agrees to be a maid for the family. But when Lucy finds out who her master is she is shocked to find out that he is Dr. Dee, her Majesty's magician...

At first Lucy is shocked but then she is excited after she learns that her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth often visits the Dee Castle and Lucy will do anything to see her Majesty.

But one day while Lucy is serving Dr. Dee and one of his assistants she listens a little bit too carefully to their conversation and soon finds out about a secret which she must tell to Her Majesty before it is too late!

Review:

I absolutely adore Mary Hooper books because she describes historical events as if she actually witnessed them. As if she was actually there and as if she was the main character and just wrote the book along her adventure. It is books like that that really make you appreciate reading.

I think that this was Mary Hooper's best book yet. She really came up with a new sort of character, one that was young and felt lost in her life. Lucy, also, has never lived on her own before and she does not really know how to provide for herself.  In At the Sign of the Sugared Plum and Petals in the Ashes (two other books written by Mary Hooper) the main character Hannah (who is in both books) is young, but she knows what will happen in her life and she knows how to provide for herself and live on her own. Since Lucy has never never lived on her own she begins to learn how to ... and we learn with her. We learn along the way. We discover the new things at the same time as Lucy does. We know everything from how Lucy puts on her different aprons to how she gets dust out of carpets (by shaking them or by hanging them on posts, then hitting them).  It is a fun side of the book.  I think that a lot of tweens would like it.  I think that they might find it interesting how young maids used to live about four hundred years ago.

I don't really like Queen Elizabeth the first, but since I read At the House of the Magician I have started liking her. Lucy shows such an admiration for Her Majesty and it is kind of addictive! Lucy is always comparing Queen Elizabeth (the first) to other queens of England and in the end Queen Elizabeth seems so much more interesting than them. But Queen Victoria is still my all time favorite queen. She is the longest reigning monarch of England (for the moment).

Mary Hooper has written her best book yet.  A million tweens would love this book and read it over and over again. It is an amazing burst of history on pages, with a memorable main character. Brilliant.

Recommended for tweens 10+.

217 pages

Don't miss the post about my second visit to Kids Books coming out next week!

Distant Waves

Distant Waves

By Suzanne Weyn

Summary:

It's the beginning of the 19th century and teenage Jane Oneida Taylor is living in Spirit Vale, New York with her four sisters and mother. Jane's father abandoned her mother after Jane's youngest sister Mimi's birth, leaving the five girls in the care of his wife. Jane's mother works as a medium in Spirit Vale while Jane and her sisters are left to occupy themselves. Jane doesn't have her mother's talent but has a talent for journalism. Jane dreams of one day being known for writing the best article of the decade or even the century...but she needs a story for her glory.

As the years fly by Jane and her sisters find themselves in Europe each wanting to start their own life and have an adventure. The girls are all busy traveling, reading about new inventions, going to parties and taking strolls along the seaside. 

Mimi is in Paris as a companion to a rich lady.  Jane, along with her three other sisters, is  staying with their mother's cousin just outside of London. Jane starts to write articles about her time in Europe hoping that they will be published later on her her life. As Jane spends more time with her younger sisters Amelie, Emma and Blythe, she feels that although her best friend (and sister) Mimi has left her, she still has her other sisters' company, sympathy and love. Jane develops a strong sisterly bond with Blythe that she never had with any of her other sisters... 

 

When Jane's mother arrives in London with Mimi (whom she picked up in Paris) she is persuaded that her daughters' futures do not lie in Europe. Jane agrees because she still hadn't found an article which would launch her career. However, the only way home is...on the Titanic. Many things lie on board the Titanic, greatest ocean liner in the world, including love and death. Maybe Jane has found her article after all.

Review:

Distant Waves  is a hard book to review because it has so many up-and-down moments. The first 150 pages of the book are just about Jane's life in Spirit Vale. Nothing 'adventurous' happens while Jane is in Spirit Vale. We learn about what Jane does everyday and how she interacts with her sisters. At the same time it prepares us to see the difference between Jane's early life and her days on the Titanic.

I like reading about big families and how they interact with each other, so reading about Jane's life was very interesting. I love Jane's interest in journalism and she inspired me a lot with her opinions. She has a different view of everything. She sees the good and the bad in people and objects in a different way than a normal teenager would. The author has made up a lot of new characters in this book (which is common), but I like how she wrote about some characters who were actually on the Titanic, for example, John Jacob Astor. 

As I have mentioned in other reviews, I love historical books and reading about historical events but it has been a really long time since since I have read a book about the Titanic. I have a My Story book about the Titanic and I have read it many times, but not recently. I think that the story of the Titanic is very interesting but at the same time sad. Suzanne Weyn (author) has, from my view, written a great story about the Titanic (after page 150) and in the end I enjoyed the book. 

I recommend this book for tweens over the age of 11.

Slave Girl

Slave Girl

By Patricia C McKissack

Summary:
In 1859, 12 year old Clotee is working as a slave in the Henly household in Virginia.   Too young to work in the fields, Clotee is assigned to fan young master William during his lessons.  Unable to read and write, Clotee finds some happiness listening to his lessons.

When a new tutor comes, he catches Clotee reading over William's shoulder. She becomes worried she will be whipped or worse. As winter advances Clotee's work gets harder than ever with all the guests arriving. 'Freedom' is all the slaves ever talk about.  All but Clotee. For Clotee, freedom is just another word that doesn't mean anything.  Yet when Clotee is introduced to a group of abolitionists and the underground railway, her life changes for ever.

Review:
Slave Girl is another book from the My Story series. I very much enjoyed reading Slave Girl because it was just a short read to introduce you to the practice of slavery. Before I read this book I was not very interested in reading about slavery, but this book has gotten me more interested in the subject.

I feel that I relate to the main character, Clotee, because I am almost the same age as her and I love adventures (even if they are only ever in books). I absolutely love the fact that in the book the author gave Clotee a secret love life. Clotee is a very brave and courageous character and so she is a wonderful role model for any young girl. Clotee shows that you should be grateful for what you have.

There is a bit of a challenge in reading this book though -- it is that the entire book is written in what Clotee calls 'slave writing'. That is to say that the book is written like this:

(Example) "I aine 'bout to cook and not eat."
(Real spelling) I am not about to cook and not eat.

Some readers might find it hard to read at first, but after the first 10 pages you'll be reading Slave Girl like it was any other book.

This adventure and romance book is one that any tween would enjoy. I highly recommend it.

225 pages

Prisoners in the Palace

Prisoners in the Palace

By Michaela MacColl

Summary:
In 1836, Liza, a 17 year old girl living in London, is shocked by the sudden death of her wealthy parents. Liza is left with taxes and houses to pay for and is forced to find a job. Liza is offered a job as a lady's maid to princess Victoria. Even though the life of a maid will be difficult, it is the only job Liza is offered, so she accepts right away.

Liza struggles to fit in amongst the other maids at Kensington Palace.  Princess Victoria accepts Liza as more than a maid, as a friend.  On one of Liza's days off she meets a newspaper boy, Will.  Although Liza is deeply in love with Will, her loyalty belongs to the princess. 

King William IV, Victoria's Uncle is close to death and Victoria is next in line to the throne. When Liza figures out that Sir John, a close confidant of princess Victoria's mother, is plotting to steal the throne from Victoria, she knows she must help Victoria.  The two girls team up, but it turns out they have more things to worry about than they had realised.  They can trust no one but themselves, and they don't have much time to find the people plotting against Victoria and to save Victoria's throne.

Review:
Prisoners in the Palace my favourite historical book. Queen Victoria is my all-time favourite queen of England and Prisoners in the Palace is a wonderful representation of Queen Victoria's last months as a princess.

Liza is a fictional character, she is a very real character for me. Liza's life seemed so miserable but when she becomes closer to princess Victoria she is puts all her sadness aside and finds another side of herself. I can feel the friendship between Liza and princess Victoria developing and I see how much stronger and braver Liza becomes. Liza's loyalty, love and care for the young princess is very well shown. In this book Liza faces many challenges alongside princess Victoria. I find that Liza is a very influential person and I hope that one day I will have the same courage as Liza.

Spectacular read! Highly recommended for EVERYONE.

This book was chosen for me by one amazing lady at KidsBooks in Vancouver, all my thanks go out to Sarah. You always find me the best books, don't worry I'll be back soon!!!

362 pages

War Nurse

War Nurse 

By Sue Reid

Summary:
In 1939, the life of Kitty, an 18 year old girl, is turned upside down by one man and his army:  Hitler and the Nazis.  Kitty trains as a Red Cross nurse, and to her surprise, is placed in one of the best hospitals in England.  More scared than excited, Kitty sets to use all her training helping the injured soldiers. When she learns that her young brother Peter is being shipped to France, she hopes never to see him amongst the injured in her care. When Kitty falls in love with one of the patients she becomes distracted from her work and finds herself in more trouble than she had bargained for.

Review:
Many young girls became nurses during the first and second wars.  Each girl has her story but Kitty's is one to be told.  Kitty is the perfect image of a war nurse.  Her emotions are wonderfully described and I feel like I am standing there beside her.  I have heard lots of stories from people about the first and second world wars. War Nurse matches the stories perfectly and describes them vividly.

I relate to Kitty because she is just an innocent girl, living her normal life, when one event changes everything.  Kitty had almost no experience as a nurse but by the end she has become a very experienced and trained nurse.  Overall,  a wonderful read, and this is not a book to miss.

This is a 'My Story' book and, like all 'My Story' books it is written like a diary. There are a lot of books in the 'My Story' series. I have a few of them and chose to review this one first. Stay tuned for other reviews!

188 pages

At the sign of the Sugared Plum

At the Sign of the Sugared Plum

By Mary Hooper

Summary:
Hannah Brown is a normal teenage girl living in a little town not far from London.  Hannah's oldest sister, Sarah, is living in London and is the owner of a sweetmeats shop.   When Hannah is invited to help her sister in London she is filled with excitement.  But when Hannah arrives in London, things are not what she had expected.

As Hannah struggles to fit in with the city styles, she also struggles to survive her worst fear, the plague.  Hannah and her sister Sarah take all the remedies to protect themselves.  Hannah's doctor also  happens to be a young man her age, and she soon has even more on her mind. As Hannah's love life takes hold, so does the plague.  Hannah can help others survive, but can she survive? 

Review:
I really enjoyed this book since it is historical and I love historical books. I had never imagined that the plague could have such an impact in English history. Mary Hooper (author) really makes you feel the same way any other person that was trying to survive the plague would feel.

When I read this book I traveled back more than 300 years and became Hannah Brown. I felt the terror and shock that she felt. I love how Hooper added a love life for Hannah during the plague. This book shows the truth in love, sisterhood and most importantly, survival.

161 pages