#Meriol Trevor

[dancingqueennintynine]

The first time I read this book, I was in middle school and it quickly became one of my absolute favorites. Even after nearly a decade (and too many rereads to count) my love for The Crystal Snowstorm (and the following Letzenstein books) has not diminished.

The Letzenstein Chronicles follows the happenings of a small European country on the brink of revolution. Catherine, an adolescent visiting her estranged Grandfather the Grand duke and ruler, finds herself caught in the crossfire of not only the revolution, but the feud within her own family.

The relationships between the characters are genuine and natural. In the author’s note, Ms. Trevor explained when she writes stories about difficult topics for children (such as political turmoil and revolutions) she tries to focus on the adventures of the characters foremost and it works beautifully here. These are friendships that I could see happening in real life. These characters, Catherine, Yolande, Edward, and especially Rafiel LeMarre have stuck with me the way Luke Skywalker, Samwise Gamgee, and Katniss Everdeen did.

Our heroine, Catherine, is another highlight of the story. She would rather live a quiet life and get to know her newly found family than be involved with the politics her Grandfather has ensnared her in. However, she still strives to do what she can to help even if what she does seems very small. Catherine does fail at times and feels hopeless and frustrated but she does not become apathetic.

I also enjoyed seeing Catherine, a very quiet girl at the beginning, develop unique friendships with different people. She comes to love and care about Con, Yolande, Edward, and Raf, but each relationship does something different for Catherine and the story. I will give special notice to Catherine and Yolande’s relationship because it is a sisterly friendship between a young girl and a young woman, something I do not see very often in fiction.

My only complaint (if it could be called that) is, I would have liked it if Countess Imelda, the sister of our antagonist Duke Julius, had been a bit more involved in the story. She mostly acts as a messenger for other characters. However, Catherine and co. have more than enough problems and as I reiterated all the other characters are very developed and this by no means ruined the story for me. Overall, the Crystal Snowstorm is a solid first entry in a series that satisfied but also left me curious for the next installment. I would recommend it for children (and adults) who enjoy historical fiction and character focused stories. I feel it is appropriate for kids 10 and up, but this is subjective to the individual child’s reading level.

[fictionadventurer]

I have a friend to whom I introduced the Regina Doman books, and she's looking for something to fill a similar niche now. Do you have any recommendations?

I'm not sure how far the introduction to Regina Doman's books went, but if she's just read the Fairy Tale Novels, the first expansion I can suggest is the John Paul II High Series, a multi-author contemporary teen series she created about a group of six teens who make up the entire student body of a brand-new Catholic charter school. They represent a broad range of the Catholic experience, from the Latin Mass traditionalist to a charismatic to an agnostic whose mother just sent her there for safety after a school shooting. Doman wrote the first book, Catholic, Reluctantly, and other authors wrote the later books. They're nowhere near the level of the Fairy Tale Novels, but they do hit that FTN niche of modern-day teens struggling to live out their Catholic faith while also getting entangled with creepy criminal conspiracies.

The next author who came to mind was Doman's friend and neighbor (and real-life inspiration for Paul Fester), Ben Hatke. The Zita the Spacegirl and Mighty Jack series, his science-fantasy middle-grade graphic novels, are a very different subgenre, but they maintain a Christian worldview and are full of fun and adventure in a way that fits in with Doman's work.

Another, possibly too obvious, suggestion is to recommend she read Chesterton and other authors recommended by the characters in the Fairy Tale Novels. Chesterton particularly has a similar blend of fun, adventure and darkness. The Father Brown stories probably have the atmosphere that most reminds me of the Fairy Tale Novels.

The author whose work strikes me as most similar to Doman's is Meriol Trevor's Letzenstein Chronicles . This is a middle-grade Ruritanian series about a girl from 1840s England who finds out she's related to the royalty of a tiny principality roughly where real-life Luxembourg exists, and gets entangled in the political intrigue between the duke's son and his evil cousin. There's a similar blend of Catholicism and adventure, particularly with one character who feels like he could have been a Sacra Cor member.

Branching out a little further, I can suggest Rumer Godden as an author who explores modern-day Catholicism with some exquisite character work. I've read and enjoyed The Kitchen Madonna and An Episode of Sparrows, and though they're both middle-grade works, they might appeal to someone who likes works that are drawing from a similar tradition to the one Doman was working from.

I'm sure there are authors and works I'm forgetting, but perhaps something here can be a good starting point? And maybe other people have suggestions?

[isfjmel-phleg]

April 2023 Books

Moongarden by Michelle A. Barry (reread)

The character arcs and themes are so drastically different from those in TSG that I'm inclined to call this one a retelling only in the basic premise of there being a secret garden. That's not necessarily a criticism; just go into this one managing expectations accordingly. The second time around I found this one a bit of a slog for me. There were a couple of interesting supporting characters, but I didn't really connect with the protagonist or even the plot in general. The worldbuilding is interesting, but it wasn't enough to make me want to seek the sequel which is coming out later this year.

The Runaway Robot by Lester del Rey

I forget which one of you recommended this one, but it was delightful. The robot narrator was endearing, and for a book its length and intended audience, it had quite a thought-provoking examination of the nature of humanity and a society that treats sentient beings as less than human because they're robots.

Disenchanted and Transformed by Megan Morrison

Morrison's worldbuilding is striking, and her retellings of fairy tales inventive (to the point that the Cinderella retelling is practically unrecognizable thematically). I didn't find the more political plotlines very interesting, but the characters were more complex than those of a typical middle-grade book.

When the War Came Home by Lesley Parr

I enjoyed Parr's first book, but this one was less interesting to me personally.

Lost and Found by Sarah Prineas

Sequels to The Magic Thief. I liked them well enough but am not especially invested.

The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket

This one isn't very long and is more of a contribution to the Lore than furthering of the plot, but the love letter ("I will love you if I never see you again, and I will love you if I see you every Tuesday...") is the highlight, both darkly humorous and rather poignant.

The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild (reread)

Maybe this isn't Streatfeild's best children's book from a technical perspective, and it is definitely flawed, but the way the narrative interacts with TSG is quite thoughtful. You can tell that Streatfeild loved and understood the book. The story is also fascinating culturally and historically: a glimpse of late 1940s California from the perspective of British children. Streatfeild is fascinated by every detail of daily life, and it makes the world of the narrative quite rich. (This is downplayed quite a lot in abridged versions, such as the American edition titled Movie Shoes, but the abridgment does have the advantage of eliminating a lot of the material that didn't age well.)

The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

I liked this one, but it somehow wasn't as much of a page-turner for me as the first book. I am looking forward to reading the next one. Stroud's style is a thing of beauty.

The Crystal Snowstorm by Meriol Trevor (reread)

The premise of this one is fascinating, but I wish Trevor had developed her young protagonist more! I got the sense that who she really wanted to write about were the adults.

This was an interlibrary loan from the Library of Congress (these books are so hard to find that that's what I had to resort to), and I meant to finish the series but am opting not to after finding that the beginning of the second book wasn't to my taste.

Gravebooks by J. A. White

Refreshingly did not suffer from Middle-Grade Sequel Syndrome (i.e. the first book was charming and original and the second is somehow a lifeless slog). It was a worthy successor thematically to the first book.

The Mystery of the Gulls by Phyllis A. Whitney

Not one of Whitney's stronger mysteries but had an interesting setting.

As for comics, I haven't been reading anything new steadily since I was concentrating on screenshotting a series I've already read (so I don't have to put myself through scouring the entire thing whenever I need a panel for reference), but now I'm moving on (slowly) to screenshotting early Tim Drake material, including some issues that were new to me. You guys might get some of those panels inflicted on you at some point.

[lover-of-the-starkindler]

The Rereader’s Meme

Tagged by @brambleberrycottage - thanks!

a book you want to reread: Angel and Dragon by Meriol Trevor - the entire series is on my shelf, I have no excuse (see also: Factotum by D. M. Cornish)

any books you reread every two to five years: Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag, Fallon by Louis L’Amour (excellent category by the by, and there are probably a few others that actually end up here)

any books you reread once a year: alas, all my ‘of course I reread this every year! sometimes multiple times a year!’ streaks have ended and there are a fair number of old favorites waiting for me to come back but nothing has taken their place

the book you reread within the shortest turnaround time: I distinctly remember finishing The Chestnut King by N. D. Wilson and curling up in a chair to read it again (it might have been a family read-aloud the first time and then it had to go back to the library the next day??)

the book you’ve reread the most times: I’ve lost count for the Chronicles of Narnia, Ladycake Farm by Mable Leigh Hunt, various installments of Trixie Belden, Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong, The Horsecatcher by Mari Sandoz...

[thelonelybrilliance]

2018 Year in Review

Rules: answer the questions about 2018 and tag some people

Thank you @ahkmenrhapsody! Congrats on graduating college!

Top 5 films you watched in 2018 

Avengers Infinity War

Black Panther

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Crazy Rich Asians

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Top 5 TV shows in 2018: (Shows with New Seasons in the US in 2018)

The Guest  손 (kdrama)

Suits

On My Block

Daredevil

Jessica Jones                             

Top 5 songs of 2018:

"High Hopes” by Panic! At the Disco

“Get Up 10″ by Cardi B

“Lucid Dreams” by Juice Wrld

“Thank U, Next” Ariana Grande

“Without Me” Halsey

Top 5 books you read in 2018: (I didn’t read books so I’m going to rank fanfic in the order of volume I read it)

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Rose Round by Meriol Trevor

The Odyssey tr. by Emily Wilson (almost done with it)

...and a bunch of really good fanfiction!

Five Good/Positive things that happened to you in 2018:

Took and passed the bar

Moved to NYC and loved it

Graduated valedictorian from my law school

Finished writing Match

Found out that I am/am going to be an aunt

I tag: @wearetakingthehobbitstogallifrey @itspileofgoodthings @mapleymood @madamescarlette @abadpoetwithdreams @ihaveonlymydreams @spinneryesteryear @catefrankie and anyone else who would like to!

[urbanhermit]

Ten days of coughing with this seasonal respiratory viral infection appear to finally be ending. Have not read anything during my convalescence. Started today with a small pamphlet from the Catholic Truth Society Biographies Series by Meriol Trevor, 'John Henry Newman: Apostle to the Doubtful.' https://www.instagram.com/p/CS2FS5OL915/?utm_medium=tumblr

[apostleshop]

Lights in a Dark Town-A Story about Blessed John Henry Newman

Great News has been shared on http://apostleshop.com/product/lights-in-a-dark-town-a-story-about-blessed-john-henry-newman-2/

Lights in a Dark Town-A Story about Blessed John Henry Newman

Description In 1849 Emmeline Erle and her widowed mother move from sunny southern Europe to cold and grimy Birmingham, England. The town is one of great contrasts: progress and poverty, industrial expansion and murky slums, new villas and filthy streets. Darkness and light battle in the minds of its people: principles of freedom and tolerance struggle with ignorance and prejudice; deep doubt of religious truth coexists with fanaticism. Emmeline quickly makes friends in her new home— Lizzie, the hardworking servant, and Daniel, the schoolboy living next door. For both Emmeline and Daniel, Father John Henry Newman, who runs a chapel in one of the worst sections town, becomes the most important person in Birmingham. Daniel and Emmeline come to know and admire Father Newman as he tries to help poor factory workers and to enlighten citizens blinded by suspicion and bigotry. With him they experience the anxieties of a cholera outbreak and the dangers of anti-Catholic riots. Caught up in one excitement or trouble after another, the young people finally arrive at happier times, while the walls of Father Newman’s new church, a symbol of light in a dark town, rise into the smoggy Birmingham sky. This colorful and dramatic story for youth brilliantly unfolds the panorama of Victorian England—the Industrial Revolution, the Oxford movement, the Crystal Palace, and Prince Albert opening a new railway. But above all, this book portrays the character and wisdom of John Henry Newman.

Author: Meriol Trevor Format: Paperback ISBN 978-1-58617-628-0

Size: 5.25 x 8 Artist: Hilda Offen

[fictionadventurer]

For the book ask game: 1, 5-7, 10, and 25, please?

How many books did you read last year?

According to Goodreads, 143, but there were a lot of short stories, novellas, graphic novels, etc. in there that inflated the count.

5. What is your ultimate favourite book?

Right now, it's probably still Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

6. What is a book that you hated but read anyway?

Since I usually don't bother finishing books I hate, I'm going back to books assigned for school, and mention that I did finish Watership Down despite hating the fact that I'd been assigned a 600-page book about rabbits.

7. A book you were hyped about but ended up being disappointed by it?

The Sun With a Face by Meriol Trevor. When I found it, I was excited to branch out into her non-Letzenstein books, but found that it reused a lot of the same tropes/character types, except in a boring romance novel format that did not impress me.

10. Actually, do you have an anti TBR? If so, list it!

I guess I could count the fact that the Kindle app keeps trying to recommend me books that I've already decided not to read. Like, there are various multi-author retelling series where I've read all the volumes I plan to read, so I'd really like them not to endlessly show up on the list.

25. How about favourite reading snacks?

Dry cereal is always good for mindless snacking.

[fictionadventurer]

2022 Fortnight of Books: Day 1

Overall best books read in 2022?

The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge: A beautifully-written and thematically deep book about a watchmaker's friendship with the dean of the cathedral and how it changes the lives of everyone around them. The character work is so delicate and compassionate, and the book made me cry several times from its sheer beauty.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: A real-life series of letters between a writer living in New York and the bookshop in England where she orders classic books, spanning more than two decades. Hanff is hilarious, and the friendship that slowly develops between her and the workers at the bookshop is heartwarming, and the whole thing is just filled with a very level-headed love of books. I made sure to buy a copy for my own shelf.

Bringing It to the Table by Wendell Berry: Essays about agriculture that were absolutely gripping and became a fundamental part of my internal landscape.

Best Series You Discovered in 2022?

The Letzenstein Chronicles by Meriol Trevor: A four-book series of Ruritanian adventures for children that actually taught me a lot about the European political landscape of the late 1840s, with a ton of tropes and character types that I particularly love.

Space Boy by Stephen McCranie: Unfinished webcomic read mostly on Webtoon and partially in print. It's a stunningly sweet science fantasy about a girl from deep space coming to Earth for the first time and getting swept up in adventure thanks to her friendship with a mysterious boy. The first volumes were specifically designed to appeal to me, with their exploration of a girl stuck several decades in her future thanks to space travel, and getting to experience all the small wonders of life on Earth for the first time. Creepier elements that I like less enter into later volumes, but it's a very well-written, heartfelt series from a Christian perspective.

Best Reread of the Year

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell became one of my all-time favorite books this year. I'm much more interested in several of the issues that Gaskell is exploring, and I feel like my older self was better able to appreciate the book as itself, rather than treating it like a knockoff Austen. There's so much to chew on in this book, and it's presented in a story with a gripping plot and lovable characters.

[fictionadventurer]

4 and 9 for book asks?

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

I love Wendell Berry's clear prose and love of the land and community. I love Meriol Trevor for her characters and interesting presentation of history. I finally read Elizabeth Goudge and fell deeply in love with her exquisite prose and exquisitely compassionate character work. I deeply appreciate Stephen McCranie as a Christian creator making a sci fi universe within that worldview. E.B. Dawson became an indie writer whose books I will seek out because of her creative worldbuilding and solid writing.

9. Did you get into any new genres?

I made a well-documented attempt to read books set in other countries. I largely stayed within my usual genres with my selections, but it did stretch me beyond the types of books in those genres I'd normally read. I also wound up getting into a streak of reading fiction set during and after WWII, and read several partial books that happened to take place in 1950s department stores.

[fictionadventurer]

Hello! I was just wondering what your favorite books are. I noticed that you seem to post about books I really like but no one around me has ever read (like The Blue Castle), so I was just curious if we had other book favorites in common!

Sincerely,

Sirius:)

I don't know if I can narrow it down to a top 20 or anything, but I can provide a list of a few of my favorite authors and the books of their I most love. My taste isn't terribly obscure--most of the more obscure books were recommended to me by people here on tumblr--so it's likely we share several favorites.

Jane Austen: Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, The Watsons, Emma, Lady Susan, Sense and Sensibility (Bonus: Sanditon, completed by Marie Dobbs)

Wendell Berry: Bringing It to the Table: Writings on Farming and Food

G.K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy, Manalive, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, Tremendous Trifles, The Innocence of Father Brown, The Wisdom of Father Brown

Nina Clare: Beau Brown

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

Allie Condie: Matched

Kenley Davidson: Goldheart, The Countess and the Frog

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations

Heather Dixon: Entwined

Regina Doman: The Shadow of the Bear, Black as Night, Waking Rose, The Midnight Dancers, Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves, Rapunzel Let Down

Tim Downs: Shoofly Pie, Less Than Dead

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Amanda Dykes: Yours is the Night

Elizabeth Gaskell: Wives and Daughters, North and South, Cranford, My Lady Ludlow

Jean Craighead George: The Tarantula in My Purse

Rumer Godden: The Kitchen Madonna

Elizabeth Goudge: Pilgrim's Inn/The Herb of Grace

Ben Hatke: Zita the Spacegirl

Georgette Heyer: A Civil Contract, The Grand Sophy, The Talisman Ring

Caryll Houselander: The Reed of God

Gail Carson Levine: Ella Enchanted

C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia, but especially The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew; A Grief Observed, Surprised by Joy, The Problem of Pain

Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul

George Macdonald: The Light Princess

Emily B. Martin: Woodwalker

Robert K. Massie: Nicholas and Alexandra

C.J. Milbrandt: Meadowsweet, Harrow and Rakefang

L.M. Montgomery: The Anne of Green Gables series, especially Anne of Green Gables, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, and Rilla of Ingleside; The Blue Castle; Jane of Lantern Hill

Pope Pius VI: "Humanae Vitae"

Mollie E. Reeder: The Electrical Menagerie

Kate Stradling: Brine and Bone

Dorothy L. Sayers: The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, but especially The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, and Murder Must Advertise; The Man Born to Be King, The Mind of the Maker, Creed or Chaos?

Noel Streatfeild: Skating Shoes, Traveling Shoes, Ballet Shoes

Emily Stimpson: These Beautiful Bones, The Catholic Table

Matthew Stover: Novelization of The Revenge of the Sith

Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time

Meriol Trevor: The Crystal Snowstorm, Following the Phoenix, Angel and Dragon

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Letters from Father Christmas

John R. Tunis: The Kid from Tomkinsville, The Kid Comes Back

Megan Whalen Turner: The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings

Jules Verne: Around the World in 80 Days

Maisie Ward: Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Little House on the Prairie series

P.G. Wodehouse: The Psmith series: Mike and Psmith, Psmith in the City, Psmith Journalist and Leave It to Psmith

[fictionadventurer]

4, 9, and 11 for the Book Asks!

4. A popular book you dislike.

I can't stand Dr. Seuss. I can appreciate the man's creativity, and I'm glad he gave us the Grinch, but hearing "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" read aloud in a child development class was one of the most agonizing experiences of my life, and I've nursed a resentment for Seuss ever since, especially since I constantly have to see him brought up as a pinnacle of children's literature. Anyone can rhyme if you make up half the words! I understand that I'm far from the target audience, but I am afraid of the child who genuinely enjoys sitting through fifty+ pages of that smug sing-songy fever dream stuff.

9. A book that you found yourself thinking about a long time after you finished it.

Matched by Ally Condie gave me one of the worst book hangovers I've ever had. After I finished, I spent the rest of the day wandering about in a daze, considering its exploration of how freedom means freedom to choose the wrong thing, and what that says about human nature, religion and government. I reread it just after lockdowns started, which was extremely timely, and left me thinking about all those concepts again, and it still comes to mind on a fairly regular basis.

11. A book with one scene that really annoyed you.

I haven't even finished this book yet, but part of the reason I thought up this question was because of a scene in Angel and Dragon by Meriol Trevor. It's got the characters and Ruritanian adventure that I like from the previous two books, and an author whose Catholic worldview largely resonates with me. But there's a scene where the characters visit an abbey, and the main character admires the simple beauty of the chapel, and the abbot explains how that was his doing, because there was all sorts of Gothic frippery that he tore out in favor of holy simplicity. And I saw red, because all I could think about was all those churches that destroyed exquisite altars and statues after Vatican II and instead gave us boring wood and blank walls and the ugly, ugly artwork of the '60s in the name of "simplicity", and I was mentally yelling at the author like, "You! You're the ones who did this! Your generation wrecked everything!" And like, yeah, there's middle ground between bare-bones ugliness and over-the-top ornate frippery that's probably actually what she was in favor of (especially considering that her favorite character makes religious art), but that mindset of, "Beautiful artwork distracts from holiness" is one that's guaranteed to tick me off.

[fictionadventurer]

1, 5, 6, 7

1. A book that drew you in right away.

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie had me hooked from the start with his descriptions of a Russian winter.

5. A book you love that it seems like no one else has read.

Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer. It's P.G. Wodehouse in space, and just as bonkers and delightful as that sounds. The only other person I know who's read it is @isfjmel-phleg.

6. A book with one character who stood out from the rest.

The Crystal Snowstorm by Meriol Trevor. Rafael le Marre leaps off the page from the moment he first appears, and he's by far the most vivid character (and gets the most focus) as the series goes on.

7. A book that left you feeling overwhelmed with happiness.

The Galleries of Stone trilogy, especially the first book. They're a family! And they're together! And they love each other! And the world is full of good things!

[fictionadventurer]

I need to congratulate Meriol Trevor for managing to provide a movie soundtrack for the most dramatic scene in her book.

[isfjmel-phleg]

The Crystal Snowstorm by Meriol Trevor

added to TBR | on my TBR | couldn’t finish it | did not enjoy | it was OK | liked it | loved it | favorite | not interested

This has been on my list for a while now and will hopefully get interlibrary-loaned in the nearish future!

[thelonelybrilliance]

Back to School Books: 10 Underrated Children’s Books You Should Read

[Summaries from Amazon. These are basically all children’s lit that is rarely heard of.]

1. Enemy Brothers, by Constance Savery

British airman Dym Ingleford is convinced that the young German prisoner, Max Eckermann, is his brother Anthony who was kidnapped years before. Raised in the Nazi ideology, Tony has by chance tumbled into British hands. Dym has brought him back, at least temporarily, to the family he neither remembers nor will acknowledge as his own.

2. Meet the Austins, by Madeleine L’Engle

For a family with four kids, two dogs, assorted cats, and a constant stream of family and friends dropping by, life in the Austin family home has always been remarkably steady and contented. When a family friend suddenly dies in a plane crash, the Austins open their home to an orphaned girl, Maggy Hamilton. The Austin children―Vicky, John, Suzy, and Rob―do their best to be generous and welcoming to Maggy.

3. Jane of Lantern Hill, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Jane and her mother live in a gloomy old mansion, where their lives are ruled by her overbearing grandmother. For most of her life Jane has believed that her father is dead. Then, one dull April morning, a letter comes. Not only is her father alive and well, but he wants Jane to spend the summer with him on Prince Edward Island.

4. The Rose Round by Meriol Trevor

During a school vacation Matt, an orphan, goes to visit his sister Caroline at a remote English estate, where she works as a cook for a mysterious family.

5. The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Robin finally must choose between her family and the velvet room that has become more and more of a haven from the world

6. The Empty Schoolhouse by Natalie Savage Carlson

Lullah is very happy when the parochial school is integrated and she can go to classes with her white friend.

7. All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Meet the All-of-a-Kind  Family -- Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie -- who live with their parents in New York City at the turn of the century. Together they share adventures that find them searching for hidden buttons while dusting Mama's front parlor and visiting with the peddlers in Papa's shop on rainy days. The girls enjoy doing everything together, especially when it involves holidays and surprises.

8. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

Wicked wolves and a grim governess threaten Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia when Bonnie's parents leave Willoughby Chase for a sea voyage.

9. Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett

The story of a little witch who dreams of becoming a normal girl.

10. Rosemary by Josephine Lawrence

When their mother becomes ill and is sent to a sanitarium to recover, Rosemary and her siblings must cope with this change in their lifestyle and learn to take on more of the household chores.