A Review and Biographical Sketch: Little Women

Today, a 36-year-old woman author writing a bestselling novel about growing up with her sisters would not be unusual. In 1868, when Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, this was revolutionary. She lived in Concord and Boston, Massachusetts, and wrote her most famous novel about four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. These four sisters are a part of a poor but happy family. Their father is in the Civil War and their mother takes care of the family at home. They have a housemaid named Hannah and are friends with a neighbor boy, who is Jo’s age, named Laurie. The story begins around Christmas and takes places in a small New England town. 

The genre of the book is a coming of age and sentimental novel. Little Women reflects the life of Louisa May Alcott, who was born on November 29, 1832, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She and her three sisters, Anna, Elizabeth, and May, were educated by their father, Bronson Alcott, who was a philosopher and teacher. Louisa and her sisters also learned the importance of living out their Christian faith through serving from their mother, Abigail May Alcott. Like the character “Jo March,” Louisa was a tomboy. She had a rich imagination and often acted out her stories with her sisters. She always liked to act out as villains, ghosts, bandits, and disdainful queens. Louisa found out she liked to write when she was young. Sadly, Louisa also had a sister who died at young age, which obviously contributed to the story of Beth in Little Women. Louisa wrote poems, short stories, thrillers, and tales for young children to read. In all, she wrote 30 books and collections of stories.  

In the novel, the March family faces many troubles. For example, the girls’ father becomes ill while fighting in the war, and their mother must leave immediately to help him. While she is gone, Beth develops scarlet fever after visiting a poor German family. She becomes permanently weakened. As her life goes on, Beth’s scarlet fever gets worse. Beth realizes that she does not have much time left to live. She tells Jo that she is nearing the end and that she is not afraid of dying. She encourages Jo to carry on with her writing but to continue her career with a focus on loving and serving others. Beth says, “… remember that I don’t forget you, and that you’ll be happier in doing that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world, for love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy.” Jo responds, saying, “I’ll try.” In fact, all of the sisters try and succeed. In time, Meg, Jo, and Amy are married and off on their own. 

I really enjoyed reading Little Women because of the moving trials that the March girls go through and the funny situations they fall into.

“My book came out; and people began to think that topsy-turvy

Louisa would amount to something after all.” -Louisa May Alcott

– By Shieldmaiden

A Short Story: The Odd Babysitting Job

On a cold January night in England, just after New Year’s day, a girl named Julia told her siblings about her experience on the last day of the year before.

“At about 10:00 p.m., I was asked to babysit. A very odd time to be asked, but it is true.” said Julia. “I didn’t know what I had agreed to at that time.”

“What was so bad about it?” asked Julia's little brother, Sam.

            

“Just wait and see,” Julia said as she smiled. “I will tell you in a moment.” She made the story sound like nothing odd at all had happened at this job, but it was completely different than she let on. “When I left for the job, I was wondering, ‘What could be so important that you would need a babysitter late at night?’ When I finally found out what it was, I was surprised.”

“Oh, won't you just tell us already?!” said Julia’s other little brother, Tom.

“Be patient! I will get to that part!” Julia scolded her brother. “So, when I got there, I rung the doorbell. But, nobody answered after about five minutes of ringing! Then, just when I was about to leave, the door flung open. There, standing, was a young man – I would say about 17 years old – looking at me from head to toe. Then he scowled. What a mean thing to do,” she said angrily.

“Well, then he ordered me to come in and remove my coat. Once I was done with that, he led me into a small bedroom. I asked him where the children were, and he replied, ‘I will go get them.’ I waited in the room for what seemed like an hour, then walked in two girls. They were exactly alike: same black, lifeless curls, same terribly white skin, same clothes, and same positions. The young man slammed the door without saying anything. I had no idea what to do. They just stared at me with their creepy blue eyes seeming to wait for me to do or say something.”

“Then I heard a loud crash from below me. The girls turned their heads toward the floor at exactly the same time. Then I heard a scream from above me. Again, the girls turned their heads together. I had a feeling that the young man had never left. I heard footsteps coming from outside the door, and I gasped.”

“Then, all of a sudden, there was a wicked laugh from outside the door. I almost screamed until the girls started to giggle along with each other and the creepy laugh. Then I was very suspicious. I pushed the girls aside and yanked open the door to find the young man with a tape recorder. He stared at me for a moment then hit the stop button on the recorder. The laughing stopped, but the girls were still giggling.” Julia stopped for a long breath.

“That is when I realized that it was Pete Longtide from school. Pete is very much a prankster. I yelled at him for scaring me, then grabbed my coat. I then ran out the door as fast as I could. I don't know if I will ever speak to him again,” Julia said as she finished her scary story. Everyone was wide-eyed and still.

– By Alexandria Adelle Mcbeth

A Short Story: The Great Escape

‘Are they leaving me again? Where are they going? Am I going with them?’ Those thoughts rushed through my head as I watched my family prepare to go on a trip. “Rosie!” I heard my two sisters, Nicole and Sadie, calling my name. “Come here!” I ran over to see what they wanted.

“Good girl.” Sadie said. She stroked my fur as I sat and waited patiently for Nicole to grab my leash from the cupboard and attached it to my collar. They grabbed their flip flops, and we headed out the door to go on a walk, one of my favorite activities! As we strolled around the neighborhood, on the third of July, I could not help but wonder where my family was going and why they were leaving.

When we arrived home from our walk, the car was packed and my family was ready to leave on vacation. I was making my way inside the house, but surprisingly, my mom called me over and told me to hop into the car! I gleefully ran over and hopped in the car. ‘Was I going with them?’ I thought. My dad started up the car and we were ready for vacation, but after about fifteen seconds of driving, we slowed down and pulled into a driveway. I did not know what was happening. Everybody was getting out of the car! Nicole even grabbed the leash, which was still attached to me, and picked me up, out of the car. I reluctantly let her carry me to the front door. My dad rang the doorbell and a woman with short, brown hair and kind eyes came to the door, opened it, greeted us, and gestured for us to come inside her house. I suddenly realized that I have stayed at this house on a different occasion. I squirmed free of Nicole’s tight grasp and got re-aquatinted with the smells of this house. After a few minutes of exploring, I went back to the front door to get back into the car with my family, to go on vacation with them, but they were not there! I ran around the house and searched for hours (or what seemed like hours), but they were nowhere to be found. That night, I went to sleep feeling alone, but ready to make the most of my vacation.

The next day I woke up with so much energy! My vacation was off to a great start. My day consisted of mainly sleeping, playing outside, and even going on a walk! Since the people I was staying with saw how much I loved the outdoors, they decided to keep me in their fenced-in backyard when they left to go someplace for the evening. I was having a great time playing in their yard, but suddenly, partway through the evening, just as it was starting to get dark, I heard loud noises, sounding like something was blowing up, and colorful flashes appeared in the sky. I did not know what to do, and I admit, was a little scared. Different scenarios raced through my mind as I thought about what the loud noises and colorful flashes represented. ‘Maybe it’s evil cats taking over earth, or maybe it’s the dog food factory blowing up, or maybe it’s–’ another loud noise and colorful flash interrupted my thought. Now, I was really scared and looking for an escape hatch or tunnel of some sort. Then, I thought of a brilliant idea: I could jump over the fence! I looked it over, then took a step back from the fence, which was about 5 feet tall in human measurements, and braced myself for my great escape. I lunged forward, unsure if this was legal or not, jumped, and sailed through the air. The next thing I knew, I was on the other side of the fence. I made sure I was still alive, then rushed to my home, which was just around the corner, raced up to the steps, sat, and waited for my family to come home. After a few hours, a car pulled up the driveway. It was the other people I stayed with while my family was on vacation! They called my name a few times, but I refused to go with them. I was determined to stay where I was and wait for my family. Then again, I did not know how long they were going to be gone and what might happen if I was to stay out here by myself, so I reluctantly got into the car with them and let them take me to their house, where I could stay until my family came back from vacation.

The next day of waiting for my family seemed to drag along so slowly, I probably could have ran around the world five times! The doorbell rang a couple times, and each time I got up and ran to the door to see if it was my family, but it was only the mailman with a package and Girl Scouts selling cookies. No activity excited me, so I decided to lie down and take a nap.

My nap must have gone longer than I thought because when I woke up I heard “Good morning!” “How did you sleep?” and other typical morning greetings. I ran over, jumped on the couch, and looked out the window to see if it was really morning. It was indeed morning and hopefully the day my family comes home. A few hours into the day, the doorbell rang. I did not think it was my family, so I stayed where I was to save myself a trip to and from the front door. Then I heard a familiar voice. It was my mom! I bolted over as fast as I could and leaped up into my mom’s arms and smothered her with kisses. “Rosie!” Nicole and Sadie pried me out of Mom’s arms and hugged me really tight. I could not describe how great is was to be reunited with my family. They gathered my bone, bed, and leftover food and we all piled into the car to go home.  

I was so happy when we all arrived home, safe and sound. I listened to all their stories about the vacation and it sounded like they had a great time. Even though I do not like to be separated from my family, I know they will always come back for me no matter what happens.

 – By Kate Wetherall

A Biography: The Life of Katherine Paterson

Katherine Paterson is a Christian, although she might not seem that way when she writes. Since Katherine was born in China, she based the setting of her first novel in China. Her writing style, marked by a sense of longing and remorse in her books, is beloved by many readers of all ages. Although Katherine is a Christian, she writes from the perspectives of her characters instead of herself. Therefore, she often does not portray her own Christian worldview in her writing. 

Katherine was born in an unexpected place. She was born in Qingjiang, China in 1932. In China, her parents were Christian missionaries. When Katherine was five, there was an epic invasion by the Japanese. Because of the Japanese invasion of 1937, Katherine and her family fled to America. Surprisingly, Katherine and her family moved thirteen times in thirteen years, from 1937 to 1950. Although Katherine was born in China, she had the ambitions of an American.

Although Katherine started writing in Japan, in 1966 she moved back to America. While in America, Katherine received a master’s degree in Christian education. Katherine’s friend from church who came from Japan kindly told her she should become a missionary in Japan, and she did. Katherine wrote her first stunning novel, The Sign of a Chrysanthemum, in 1976 while in Japan. Her extensive studies in Japan frequently fused with her writing to form some of her best-selling novels.

Many of Katherine’s highly action packed books reflected her childhood. Her characters are often faced with dire situations. While she writes of sadness and joy, she also writes with empathy. Her inspiration for her best-selling novel Bridge to Terabithia came from a disastrous event in the life of her son David. David’s best friend, Lisa Hill, was struck by lighting and died. Katherine wanted to show his deep sorrow by writing a book for him. She dedicated the book to Lisa Hill. She knows her characters and feels every word she writes. 

Writing was the source of Katherine’s strength during her life. Katherine’s characters portray the hardships of her own youth. Having to move a lot in her youth, she must have longed for a real home. Since her writing takes place in both China and America, she must have arranged herself in two places during her life and her books. In dealing with her problems in her home and in her family, Katherine seems to give her characters hope through her own experience.

– By Victoria Scarlett Doman