Highland Rebel by Sally Watson #1954Club

Title: Highland Rebel
Author: Sally Watson
Illustrator: Scott Maclain
Publication: Image Cascade, paperback, originally published in 1954
Genre: Juvenile Historical Fiction
Setting: Scotland, 1745

Description: Lauren Cameron may be a girl in a family of claymore wielding Scottish warriors but she knows how to use a rapier and dreams of defending Bonnie Prince Charlie and fighting the British.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron #1954Club

Title: The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
Author: Eleanor Cameron
Publication: Little, Brown & Company, hardcover, 1954
Genre: Juvenile fantasy
Setting: 20th century California

This review is for the #1954Club, hosted by StuckinaBook and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, in which bloggers are invited to read and review books that were published in a chosen year.

Description: David Topman is reading Dr. Doolittle in the Moon when his father sees a notice in the newspaper:

WANTED: A small space ship about eight feet long, built by a boy or two boys, between the ages of eight and eleven.

The Native Heath by Elizabeth Fair #1954Club

Title: The Native Heath
Author: Elizabeth Fair
Publication: Furrowed Middlebrow, Dean Street Press, paperback, originally published in 1954
Genre: Fiction
Setting: 20th century Northern England

Description: Julia Dunstan, a recent widow of a certain age, is delighted to learn she has inherited her uncle’s home, Belmont House, in the village of Goatstock.

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis #1954Club #Narniathon21

Title: The Horse and His Boy
Author: C.S. Lewis
Publication: Puffin, paperback, originally published in 1954
Genre: Juvenile fantasy/series
Setting: South of Narnia

Description: Shasta, a poor fisherman’s son in Calormen, Narnia’s traditional frenemy, is used to the abuse he gets from his alleged father, Arsheesh, but when a Tarkaan (great lord) demands hospitality and offers to purchase Shasta, he is afraid it might be out of the frying pan, into the fire.

The Cuckoo in Spring by Elizabeth Cadell #1954Club

Title: The Cuckoo in Spring
Author: Elizabeth Cadell
Publication: Thorndike Press, hardcover, 1954
Genre: Fiction
Setting: 20th century England

This review is for the #1954Club, hosted by StuckinaBook and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, in which bloggers are invited to read and review books that were published in a specific year.

Description: Edwin Hurst and his son, Oliver, solicitors, have an eccentric client in Yorkshire who wants his paintings valued. They persuade Oliver’s brother Julian, an art dealer, to undertake the project, which Julian does only because there might be something worthwhile and because he plans to visit his godmother in Scotland afterward for a lively house party.

The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston #1954Club

Title: The Children of Green Knowe
Author: L.M. Boston
Illustrator: Peter Boston
Publication: Harcourt, paperback, originally published in 1954
Genre: Children’s fantasy
Setting: 20th century Cambridgeshire

Description: As the story begins, Toseland is on a train (alone at 7 years old; times have certainly changed) going to visit his great-grandmother after the autumn term at school. It is December and there is flooding at the station: he is picked up by taxi but then taken by boat by the family retainer, Boggis, to a manor house that is lit up against the darkness.

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff #1954Club

This is a special guest review of The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff for the #1954Club, hosted by StuckinaBook and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, from my mother, Stephanie Martin, in honor of one of her favorite authors:

When I made my long-anticipated visit to Hadrian’s Wall in northern England, I knew a lot about the history and archaeology of the area, but I wasn’t thinking about any of that. My mind was focused on a young Roman soldier named Marcus whom I had read about years before. And that goes to show that when Rosemary Sutcliff’s characters get a grip on you, they never let go.