| Booktalk
#1
Have you ever wondered if there
was a book like Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights that was short?
Well, I've found one -- "Wolves of Willoughby Chase" has all the favorite
character types -- the mean boarding school director, the cousins - one
happy-go-lucky and flighty, the other thoughtful and sensible - the kind
servant, secret passages, stolen fortunes, surprise reappearances and dangerous
train rides. This book is suspenseful but it's funny too. The people are
so stereotyped, the good guys are really good, the evils are really evil,
that you can follow the plot intricacies and action and begin to appreciate
how the author must weave in events and characters so that further on in
the story their situation helps resolve the problems. I loved this book
by Joan Aiken and if you want to read a book with an old British aristocracy
setting, this is a painless way to go.
Booktalk #2
What would happen if you were
being oppressed by people older and bigger than you? Sylvia's aunt
is to old to continue taking care of her, so Sylvia has to live with her
cousin, Bonnie. Unfortunately, Bonnie's parents are going on a trip,
and the girls have to stay with a cruel governess who is very distantly
related to them. The governess, Miss Slighcarp, sells most of their
playthings and pets. She also wears Bonnie’s mothers dresses and
locks Bonnie in a cupboard when she gets mad about this! The servants
would help them, but Miss Slighcarp fires almost all of them! Will
Bonnie and Sylvia get Miss Slighcarp out, or escape across the dangerous
moors? (Grace M., 5th grade student) |
