Middle Grade Classics: Seacrow Island

 

Title: Seacrow Island
Author: Astrid Lindgren
Publication Info: Kindle Edition NYR Children's Collection, 2015. First English edition, Viking Books for Young Readers, 1969 (original Swedish publication 1964). 287 pages.
Source: Library digital services

Goodreads Blurb:
Tiny Seacrow Island is one of hundreds of islands in the sparkling blue of the Baltic Sea. Though small, it has everything you’d want in an island: woods to wander in, flowers to pick, fish to catch, boats to sail in, all kinds of animals. But it doesn’t have very many young people. So when the four Melkerson kids and their father move into Carpenter’s Cottage one June day, they’re immediately welcomed by the resourceful islanders: Johan and Niklas Melkerson, at twelve and thirteen, are natural companions for adventurous Freddy and Teddy (girls exactly their age); dreamy Pelle, the baby of the family, gets up to trouble with bossy Tjorven and fanciful Stina; and ever-responsible Malin, who at nineteen looks after her scatterbrained father as well as her brothers, catches the eye of all the island’s young men. Before long Seacrow Island and Carpenter’s Cottage (tumbledown and leaky though it may be) have become a real home for the Melkersons. 

Seacrow Island is a remarkable story, filled with sweetness and sorrow, humor and suspense, and peopled with the vivid, unexpected, wonderfully winning characters we’ve come to expect from the creator of the unforgettable Pippi Longstocking.

My Review:
I no longer remember exactly why this was on my TBR list--I saw it somewhere and thought it sounded charming. And, indeed, it is. I haven't read Pippi for a long time, but this felt better to me than I remembered Pippi (as a child I always worried about the trouble she was getting Tommy and Annika into). Compared to most modern children's books, the story is slower-moving, more about a feel for a wonderful place, maybe creating a fantasy of that wonderful summer life on a magical island. But in the end, it had a lot more plot than I expected, and every bit as much charm as promised. 

There are a lot of characters, and the author moves the point of view among them scene by scene, but never in a way to confuse the reader, and for me it created a feeling that every one of the children was important, and deserving of attention. If pressed to pick the main characters, I'd choose three: Pelle, Tjorven, and Malin. It may be a bit odd to have an almost-adult as one of the main characters, and we don't see things so much from her adult perspective most of the time, but her changes and development are definitely central to the story.

Recommendation:
Read it for a calming dip into a more peaceful time. There are adventures, but nothing madcap as Pippi Longstocking delivers. I found it a soothing read.

 

 

Children's Classic: Harriet the Spy

 

Title: Harriet the Spy
Author: Louise Fitzhugh; read by Anne Bobby
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio, 2003. Originally published by Harper & Row, 1964. 298 pages.
Source: Library Digital resources

Awards: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (1966), Oklahoma Sequoyah Award (1967)

Publisher's Summary:
Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she’s written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together? 


My Review:  

Somehow I was never tempted to read this as a kid. Since lately I've been going back and picking up some classics I missed, when I saw this available as an audio book download through my library, I decided it was time.

Honestly, I'm not sure I'm glad I bothered. I was more than a little taken aback by Harriet, who has a personality that isn't very appealing, and, in my opinion, doesn't learn much from the disaster. Frankly, Harriet is a bit of a spoiled brat. Really, throwing temper tantrums at age 12?

More disturbing is the way her observations of people play out. She does have a keen ability to see and describe people, but she absolutely lacks empathy. Early on, when this was bothering me, I assumed that the story would create a significant change in her, as she learned to feel more. But even when her friends find her notebook and are deeply hurt (and seriously mad at her), she never seems to feel bad about saying those things (which she sees merely as "true" but which in fact are opinions). All she feels is bad about them finding out. 

In the end, too, she is given advice on how to "fix" the problem, but as far as I can see, it merely turns her to writing observations about other people, locals who aren't in her class at school but who are still human beings she dismisses with various unkind descriptions. It looked for a time as though there would be some evolution of her relationship with Ole Golly (into Harriet seeing her as a human being), but that didn't really seem to go anywhere.

My Recommendation:
If you loved this as a kid, I'd recommend not re-reading. If you haven't read it, I think there are better options. Those prizes it won make me wonder if I'm missing something, so if you have read it recently and can argue for a better opinion of the book, please do!

FTC Disclosure: I checked Harriet the Spy out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher 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." 

Audio-book Review: Anne of the Island, by L.M. Montgomery

 

 
Title: Anne of the Island
Author: L.M. Montgomery. Read by Susan O'Malley
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, 2001; original published 1915.
Source: Library digital resources

Publisher's Summary:New adventures lie ahead as Anne Shirley packs her bags, waves good-bye to childhood, and heads for Redmond College. With old friend Prissy Grant waiting in the bustling city of Kingsport and frivolous new pal Philippa Gordon at her side, Anne tucks her memories of rural Avonlea away and discovers life on her own terms, filled with surprises...including a marriage proposal from the worst fellow imaginable, the sale of her very first story, and a tragedy that teaches her a painful lesson. But tears turn to laughter when Anne and her friends move into an old cottage and an ornery black cat steals her heart. Little does Anne know that handsome Gilbert Blythe wants to win her heart, too. Suddenly Anne must decide if she's ready for love...  [Goodreads summary]

My Review: 
Since this isn't exactly a new book, or unknown, I mostly just wanted to review the audio-book aspects. Though the story might deserve a few comments.

Anne is a creature of her time. She's a bit progressive, really, for rural Canada in 1915, as she goes off to get a college education. She excels at that, as we would expect, and beats out the boys, which we also expect. But she and her friends are also much absorbed with issues of men and marriage, which is predictable I suppose. I find myself less interested in Anne's convoluted path to the inevitable than in the unexpected paths of some of her friends, but that's just me listening to a book I've read many times.

As regards the audio book, I think maybe it's not such a good idea to listen to a book you know and love well (but there are some where I think I love the audio more than the print, so who knows?). Ms. O'Malley does a fine job of reading, for the most part, though her inflections and pronunciations don't always sit right with me (every now and then she seems to stumble a bit over lines that only make sense if the emphasis is put just right). But the biggest problem I have might be no problem at all to another reader: I just don't "hear" Anne, or most of the other characters, with the sort of voice used by the reader. It's only at times like this that I remember that and audio book is a re-telling, just as a movie is (though much less changed, of course). No one can ever read a book in a way that matches the way every reader "hears" it in her head.

My Recommendation:
Despite my complaints, I think the Anne books are great for listening to, and would be good for sharing with a daughter. They aren't really written for small children, but there is nothing objectionable in them, and might improve a commute with a child over about age 9. Incidentally, I think that the summary above, taken from Goodreads, is pretty awful.

FTC Disclosure: I checked Anne of the Island out of my on-line library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher 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."