The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn - featuring a dramatic rescue from the Titanic!

Cinderella meets All-of-a-Kind Family in a new book I really liked and recommend. Elinor Hayward, the lovely and intelligent daughter of a prosperous factory owner, is thrilled when she and her father are invited to a New Year’s Ball in early 1910. Even better, she meets an attractive young man, Frederick Coombes, son of an earl, who is not just friendly but clearly interested in her:

It was stupidly easy to fall in love with Frederick; I got halfway there that very evening. But I’d like to point out, before you decide I must have been soft in the head, that I was nineteen, he was the first man ever to pay attention to me, and he was very, very charming.

Six Degrees of Separation — from Shuggie Bain to Down the Rabbit Hole

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up.   This month’s starting point is Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, which won the 2020 Booker Prize.

First Degree

Shuggie Bain is about a boy and his alcoholic mother, living in poverty in public housing in Scotland. 

WWW Wednesday: December 16, 2020

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Five Things

Dr. Amy Acton, the Health Official flattening the curve in Ohio, took time out to say that Laura Ingalls Wilder helped her get through a very difficult childhood.

My newly crafted mask is not unattractive but slides down the back of my head, although I followed the specs.   A paper bag would be easier to wear!   I am not speedy enough to equip medical professionals but have made a few for family.  I doubt my nephew was thrilled to receive a mask for his 15^th birthday but he politely admired it and put it on (taking a wary glance at his reflection in a nearby window) (it wasn’t his only gift).

All-of-a-Kind Family (book review)

Title: All-of-a-Kind Family
Author: Sydney Taylor
Publication: Dell paperback, originally published in 1951. I was inspired to reread this for the 1951 Club.
Genre: Juvenile fiction, series

Plot: The All-of-a-Kind Family lives on New York’s Lower East Side not long before the outbreak of World War I. Papa is a peddler and Mama manages the home and five daughters as frugally as possible, while promoting their Jewish faith. Ella is the oldest, Henny the boldest, Sarah the thoughtful future writer, and Charlotte and Gertie are the youngest and eat penny candy in bed. The girls share adventures and due to loving parents and a spirit of adventure do not dwell on their poverty or the challenges of living in a crowded tenement.

So Great a Love (Book Review)

Title:  So Great a Love
Author: Gladys Malvern

Publication Information: Macrae Smith Co., 1962, Beebliome Books 2013 (ebook)

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Setting:  17th Century England

Plot:  It is 1641 and lovely Lady Henrietta Wade, known as Hal, is lady in waiting to Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England (the cover actually comes from a portrait of the Queen). 

October is "Convert a Betsy-Tacy fan" month!

Here are some success stories:

At the top is Becky, who has enthusiastically read the whole series since meeting me in February! Becky is one of my most successful converts. I started her with Heaven to Betsy but after a few chapters she revealed herself as a series purist and demanded Betsy-Tacy. Although we grew up in the same town, accessing the same library, Becky had never come across Maud Hart Lovelace prior to meeting me (such deprivation!), but is a fan of other classic series, such as the All of a Kind Family. I bet Becky is wondering what she will do once she has read Emily of Deep Valley. . .

Next is my friend and former colleague Tawen, a brilliant lawyer who is studying in Hong Kong this year. Although I know fantasy is her preferred genre (and suspect that like me, she does not normally read series out of order), I sent her Betsy and the Great World because I thought it suitable given that she is embarked on an adventurous year herself. Having moved to the US as a teen, she missed out on a lot of children's classics, so I am sure she will love Betsy-Tacy. And I like the idea that someone is reading Betsy-Tacy in Asia! Remember, it just took one person to make Anne of Green Gables a phenomenon in Japan (and WWII)!Below, on the left is Nicole, who signed up to participate with her teenage daughter. She reports that both loved Heaven to Betsy. Of course, the real test is whether they hunt down the rest of the series. Below, on the right is Carrie, who I chose carefully, not only because she was once the only other person in a group of friends who had heard of and read Summer of My German Soldier but also because she has a daughter about 8 - prime age to read Betsy-Tacy. No word yet from Carrie: she can run but she can't hide.

Books and Libraries

A story in the Boston Globe about a 77 year old chess maven described how he taught himself to play from books at the library during the Depression. One day he found a note from another player: “'Neither duffer, nor master,' the note read, and included a telephone number. It was an invitation to play, in an era when games were hard to find," and they subsequently played many times.

Of course, it reminded me of the famous scene in More All of a Kind Family, in which Jules leaves a note in Ella's library book so he can meet her! The kind librarian sees the book is on the wrong shelf (I think the girls hid it because they'd already checked out their weekly quota) but decides not to interfere with young love. How I loved these books! I checked them out repeatedly from my elementary school library, and now own a complete set (although not all are in the oversize format I grew up with).

Libraries play an important role in the lives of this poor but dignified family. In the very first book, Sarah, the middle sister (and eventual author of the series) has lost a book and the librarian realizes that paying to replace it would cause the family great hardship but they are proud and won't accept charity, so she provides a very modest replacement amount. Just as those on the Lower East Side used the library to escape from their troubles our current economic times have resulted in increased usage in libraries all over the country, despite the drastic cuts in services and hours.

I've attached a link to the All of a Kind Family Companion.