Konigsburg, E. L.
THE OUTCASTS OF 19 SCHUYLER PLACE
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2004.
IL 5-8, RL 5.3
ISBN 0689866364

(3 booktalks)

This is the story of Margaret Rose Kane's 12th summer.  Sent to summer camp rather that stay with her adoring uncles, Margaret is determined to make the most of it.  But it certainly doesn't turn out the way she imagines.  Life at camp is miserable and Margaret is labled incorigible.  It is then that Uncle Alex rescues her and brings her back to the house he shares with his brother, Morris.  Margaret loves her eccentric uncles and is still a bit hurt that they did not seem to want her to stay with them while her parents were away.  But when she finds out the reason, she begins a campaign to save what is important to her.  And she makes some very interesting friends along the way.

Booktalk #2

Her Uncle Morris told her, “Rose is your middle name, and don’t you forget it. That Rose in the middle holds Margaret and Kane together and it will stop the bullets if you let it.” From Morris and her other uncle, Alex, she learned to stand strong. She was strong when the girls at camp tried to give her a nickname she didn’t want. She was stronger when they tried to get her in trouble because she wouldn’t be come one of them. She was the strongest when the Home Owners Association tried to demolish her uncles’ great towers. They were works of art which had stood for forty-five years and touched the lives of everyone until the neighborhood became less a place for neighbors and more of a place for showing off one’s money. Read all about Rose, Uncle Morris, Uncle Alex, Tartufo the truffle sniffing dog, and Jake, the artist who pretends to be dumb as they all try to battle against being the Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. 

Booktalk #3

Margaret Rose’s parents are working in Peru for the summer.  She decides to spend the summer at Camp Talequa.  When she is not accepted by the other campers, Margaret decides to give up participating in any of the camp activities which causes her to be labeled incorrigible by the camp director. This makes her stay at camp even more unbearable.  Margaret is rescued by her beloved uncles and brought to live with them at their home at 19 Schuyler Place.  But, the summer she hoped for is not what she finds.   For many years her uncles have been building three towers constructed of scrap metals and cut glass.  Now, the people of Old Town have chosen redevelopment and the towers are scheduled for demolition.  Margaret’s love for her uncles and the towers drives her to organize a campaign to save the towers.  Discover how fighting for something that you believe in can yield surprising results.     (Jean B. Bellavance for Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards, 2007-2008)