Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, by Karen Abbott

Liar Temptress Soldier Spy follows the involvement of 4 women, 2 confederates and 2 unionists through their daring secrets and bold assertiveness during the Civil War. The title conveys an interesting mix of adjectives and all four women at some point portray each title. 

Abbott opened my eyes to the Civil War. Quickly I became aware of how simultaneously ignorant I was in regards to this American Historical landmark, and fascinated. Similar to The Devil in the White City, everything within quotations comes from original sources, be they letters, journals or court briefings. She does an excellent job portraying that women are capable even when their society tells them they aren't, without being annoyingly feminist. Abbott successfully corrals the sensitive topic of womanhood and declares to the world that females have roles to play. 

Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit

Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbit






Winnie Foster's childhood is suffocating her. Button up boots, tight lace dresses, and the stifling heat of summer makes her yearn for something more. Even just exploring beyond the iron gate enclosing everything she's ever known into a neat little square would suffice. Tampering with the idea of running away, she accidentally finds herself a victim of kidnapping. Her kidnappers, however, don't frighten her; they fascinate her and teach her lessons on life that she will not soon forget.

Tuck Everlasting explores ideas on what it means to actually live. Not merely to be alive, not merely to not have died, but to live. Natalie Babbit's writing style drips with sophistication that will entertain advanced readers, but tells a story that will captivate young audiences as well. Readers will juggle moral dilemmas around in their heads they haven't previously considered and view life through a different lens after having read Tuck Everlasting.

Bo At Ballard Creek

Bo At Ballard Creek, by Kirkpatrick Hill

When Mean Millie asked a gold miner for a favor, he had no idea she would hand him a swaddled, blond haired, tiny bundle and recite the name of an Alaskan orphanage. Outside the orphanage gates, the two gold miners who agreed to to the task fell in love with the baby's charm, were disappointed by the strict damp look of the place, and enthusiastically decided to raise the child themselves. They named her Bo, and set out on their way to raising a child on the Alaskan frontier. 

In a Little House on the Prairie kind of way, Hill masterfully tells stories of Bo's childhood. With no strong plot line to follow, Bo at Ballard Creek takes on a historical memoir feeling and wins the hearts of readers as they discover what it might have been like to live with, cook for, and learn from a gold mining crew in the 1920's in the middle of Alaska. 

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Maria Augusta Trapp

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers,

Maria August Trapp

They're real! Did you know she was only 20 when she married into 7 children? Did you know they escaped to America so they wouldn't have to sing at Hitler's birthday party? Re-experience the magic, the wonder, the romance and the music you grew up loving in The Sound of Music. Maria has a way of mystifying her audiences, both as the leader of her traveling singing group, as well as in her memoir. The Sound of Music resembles the truth, but that story ends by the 4th or 5th chapter while the lives of the Trapp family continue on in splendor.

Frauline Maria was determined to become a nun before she joined the Trapp family. She continually weaves her devout faith throughout the journey she travels one step at a time, never knowing what lays around the corner, but ever hopeful. I found it refreshing to discover a faith promoting, inspiring and hopeful story that didn't come from Deseret Book. This book was amazing. I will own it and I will read it over and over again. 

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E. L. Konigsburg

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,  
E. L. Konigsburg

 

This one is just fun. Maybe you read it in elementary school, I didn't, but I should have. When Claudia, an unsatisfied 12-year-old, decides to run away from home and take her little brother Jamie, and his piggy-bank, along, she has a plan for everything. They pack their clothes in their instrument cases and head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art instead of school. While sneakily staying at the Museum, Claudia becomes entranced with the mystery behind a new sculpture and refuses to go home until they discover all they can about its origin. 

Claudia and Jamie are easy to love, and their unique approach to running away from home piques intrigue and sparks imagination. All humans can relate to a child's dream of running away from home, and are able to rediscover that forgotten piece of childhood as they become involved in these very advanced, yet still juvenile schemes. From the Mixed-Up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler should go on everyone's library card queue.

Little Britches: Father and I were Ranchers, Ralph Moody

Little Britches: Father and I were Ranchers, 
Ralph Moody

 

Sterling North, whoever that was, said that Moody's books should be read aloud in every family circle in America, and I think he's absolutely right.  Elementary aged Ralph moves across the country alongside his family with high hopes of living off the land and tending a successful ranch. When they arrive however, they stare at empty fields and a crooked house with broken windows. Ralph learns from his Pa how to make ends meet, try new and daunting things, and most importantly stay true to ones character. 

When reading Little Britches, Ralph's hardships are your hardships, his triumphs your triumphs, and life altering lessons change your life as well as his. I loved reading this book and could hardly set it down. Written in 1898, Moody captures the joy, pain, drama, suspense and achievement involved in so many of the hearts of our own ancestors. My family raised a ranch from scratch in Whitehall, Montana in the late 1800s early 1900s, and I loved reading this novel and simultaneously imaging the Capp family and their struggles as well as their triumphs. Highly recommending this book.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, Alan Bradley

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce, an eleven-year-old amateur detective, desperately wants the approval of those around her. Her sisters, her father, Bishop Lacey's real detective, and his beautiful wife Antigone. Her deepest desire comes to fruition in The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches as she not only discovers that her family is essential in classified government missions, but that she has been unknowingly prepared her entire life, by those closest to her, to play an extensive role herself.

The Dead in their Vaulted Arches is beautiful and the reader celebrates with Flavia as she matures, makes connections, and discovers her self worth and self importance. The unraveling ends in this novel leave room for even greater adventures to be had and stories to be told.