Some Favorite Reads

Of course, when I have no time to read, all these memories of books I loved as a kid and want to re-read come flowing back to me. I don't have time to read them! What I do have time for, however, is sharing them with you. So here goes!

Let's start with After the Dancing Days by Margaret Rostkowski. 

Set in the post-WWI era, this story is about healing from the trauma of the first world war. Happy, strong young men who went off to battle often came back scarred, missing limbs, and blind. I loved the storyline and the characters and the dash of romance.

Mandy by Julie Edwards (Andrews!). Julie Andrews was an extremely talented author! She wrote a few other books I love (Dragon: Hound of Honor, and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles) but this is about Mandy. Mandy is a little girl growing up in an orphanage. One day she climbs over the wall in the garden and goes exploring in the woods, only to find a tiny abandoned cottage with a neglected garden. So begins a spring, summer, and autumn of bringing the garden back to life and caring for the house. Whose cottage was this? Why was it abandoned? And how long can she keep it a secret?

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel. Such a great adventure novel! Matt is a young cabin boy aboard an airship called the Aurora. He belongs in the air, and loves traveling around the world. One night the airship is attacked by pirates, and a massive adventure begins! Set in an alternate world where the sky is like the ocean, crisscrossed by hydrium-powered airships and populated by such creatures as you could never imagine. Highly recommend - and the best part is, it's the first in a series of three!

Bonus recommends: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, any Nancy Drew novel, and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.

So get out to the library! Happy weekend reading.