Two Middle Grade Classics

 A little late with this this morning!

Today I'm reviewing two of Madeleine L'Engle's books, the first two about Vickie Austin. First published in 1960 and 1963, they introduce a character and a family who continued to appear in books up to L'Engle's death. I'm reviewing both, not because they don't stand alone, but because most of what I have to say applies to both.

 

Title: Meet the Austins and The Moon By Night
Author: Madeleine L'Engle 
Publisher: originally published by Vanguard, 1960 (Meet the Austins) and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1963 (The Moon by Night). About 240 pages each. My paperbacks were published by Bantam and Dell, respectively.
Source: My bookshelf.

The Story:
In Meet the Austins, we do just that. We meet narrator Vickie Austin, age 12, and her family: her home-maker mom, doctor Dad, and siblings. John at 15 is the oldest and steadiest. Suzy is 9, and a pretty, bouncy blonde with the ambition and brains to become a doctor. Rob is 4. In spite of the catastrophe with which the book opens--a friend of the family has been killed, and his daughter Maggie will be coming to live with them for a time--the book really does just feel like an introduction. Nothing much really happens. Vickie establishes herself as a kid on the cusp of adolescence and in position to have a hard time with it.

The Moon By Night is a great deal more eventful, but again, most of the story feels like it is there to allow Vickie to struggle with growing up. Two years have passed, and everything is changing again. Not only is Maggie leaving the family to live with her legal guardian, but the whole family is going to uproot from their little New England Village and move to New York for a year. John is going off to college. And to help the family make the transition, they do a cross-country camping trip.

My Review:
Okay, looking at my summaries, you'd think I don't like these books, but I do. However, I also think they aren't as good as some of L'Engle's other work, in part just because they don't have that extra sense of importance. In A Wrinkle in Time, Meg and the others have to save her father from a fate worse than death, and save the world along the way. These are very much just stories about coming of age, without any more drama than the teen years provide all on their own.

I think that Meet the Austins is one of the author's weakest books. It feels very episodic, and lacks a central cohesion. It's still a fun read, but doesn't compel. The Moon By Night feels a little more purposeful. Less happens to Vickie, and more happens because she acts. It is still a story without big issues and significance, but under the very simple story line a lot of major life issues come up. We meet Zachary Gray, a character L'Engle brought into a number of books, crossing over between the Austin Family books and the Murray family from Wrinkle. Zach is a great means of getting at some issues about life, death, and choices, and maybe even a few the author didn't realize.

I've been sensitized by recent articles about abusive relationships and controlling boyfriends, and boy, does Zach set off the alarm bells! He is definitely trying to control Vickie, as well as manipulating her emotionally, hurting her (emotionally) and then apologizing so that she feels sorry for him and always forgives...I wonder if L'Engle realized what an abuser she was creating? Understanding him this way also helps me understand why this super gorgeous guy picks on younger girls who are not generally recognized as pretty, a plot point that is otherwise unbelievable. I'm happy to say that, in the end, Vickie stands up to him, which also makes me think that L'Engle knew exactly what kind of person she had created.

For books that were written about the time I was born, these don't feel all that dated. A few attitudes about gender roles and dress (surprisingly few!), and a lack of seatbelts were the most obvious relics of another age. The tour of campgrounds across America amused me (though it also was a bit dated, as things have changed in the Parks, and not all for the better), as did L'Engle's reaction to the Southwest. Obviously, that denizen of the east coast forests wasn't as taken by the desert as I am! I can't hold that against her, though I would love to have the opportunity to show her just how not-dead those lands are.

Recommendation:
These are not the author's best work, but for those who like to have "the whole story" they fill it in with fast, easy reads that are well-written and definitely not a waste of time. I think that Vickie's issues might make for some possible openings for conversations with daughters on the cusp of puberty.

Full Disclosure: I have owned copies of both books for years, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." 

Middle Grade Classic: A Wrinkle in Time

 

Title: A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L'Engle

Publisher:   Originally published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1962, 203 pages.

Source: I have owned a copy for years, though of a more recent (1980) paperback edition.

Summary:

This is a book for which the term "speculative fiction" might have been invented. Part science fiction, part fantasy, it is a great quest story with a twist. Meg Murray and her little brother, Charles Wallace, are misfits. They team up with another misfit, Calvin O'Keefe, and three very unusual entities, and travel through space and time to a planet where a single brain rules everything, and free will is non-existent, in order to rescue Meg's father. How they manage that and what it requires of them is the core of the story.

Review: 

There is a reason this is a classic and holder of a Newbery Medal. Although the story occasionally feels a little heavy-handed with morality, it has held up very well over time (possibly better than I have), and continues to work both as a great adventure with just a hint of teen romance and as an exploration into what it is to be human. The characters, especially Meg but also Charles Wallace and Calvin, are well-drawn. Meg is very human, which at times makes me squirm a bit, but I realize that is because I can recognize my own faults in her. It's nice to know that those faults are part of what allows her to succeed in her quest!

Reading this book as a writer I can also see the fun that L'Engle had writing characters like the three almost supernatural beings, Mrs Who, Mrs What and Mrs Which*--not to mention the Happy Medium. Like me, I suspect she didn't always care if her jokes went over the heads of her younger readers.

Wrinkle is a fun book to read, and one that leaves the reader something to think about when it's finished. What more could we ask?

Recommendation:

I recommend this for children and adults from about age 10 or 11 and up. I would be remiss if I did not address L'Engle's use of both an occasionally heavy-handed (in my opinion) Christian imagery and philosophy--and her use of quotations and beliefs from many other philosophies. L'Engle was a writer whose strong Christian faith informed her work, and while most of her characters are at the least questioning what they believe, the writer herself writes from a place of firm belief. As an agnostic reader, I am aware of times when I may not agree with everything she says, but I do not find that it destroys my enjoyment of a good read. Some readers may be more troubled by this than I am (and I suspect some of the most troubled readers will be Christians who are not comfortable asking questions).

*An interesting note of Who, What, and Which: L'Engle wished for the names to be printed as I have written them, English-style with no period on "Mrs," in order to emphasize their status as something Other. This, however, was apparently too much for the type-setters, and the only editions in which this was done were the British ones, where it of course did not communicate anything.  I no longer remember in which of her non-fiction works I read this.

Full Disclosure: I have owned a copy of  A Wrinkle in Time for many years, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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