A Book Review: Little Women

Little Women was written by Louisa Alcott. The events in this book take place in Massachusetts in a cozy house. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are the four main characters in this book, and they are sisters that live during the Civil War in which their father is fighting.  

The story begins with the four sisters sitting around the fire and wishing life was the way it was before their father left for the war and before they became poor. The girls sit around their Marmee and listen to her read a letter from their father. After hearing the letter, each girl tells her faults. Meg hates to work, Jo has a bad temper, Beth envies after other girls’ pianos, and Amy is selfish. Marmee reminds them about how they used to play pilgrim’s progress when they were younger. She encourages them to not just play it but to live it out in their lives and overcome their faults. The girls wake up on Christmas morning, and each girl finds a present from Marmee under her pillow – a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress to help her on her journey.

The main characters in this book are Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Meg is the oldest and also my favorite character. Meg is proper and beautiful. During this book, Meg meets a young tutor. They fall in love and get married. Jo doesn’t approve at first because she isn’t ready for her sister to leave the home, but, since it happens anyway, Jo learns to adjust. Jo is a strong-willed but kind girl. Jo also has a bad temper. In one of my favorite chapters, Jo is going to a play with Meg and Jo’s friend and neighbor, Laurie. Jo doesn’t let Amy come, so Amy becomes angry and burns Jo’s notebook that contained all of Jo’s stories that the aspiring author had been working on. Jo has to learn to forgive and not let the sun go down on her anger.

Beth is the third sister. Beth is shy and doesn’t leave the house very often. Beth’s story is the saddest. First, she has a very caring heart. When the March girls’ father gets sick, Marmee has to rush to Washington to help him. She leaves the girls with the tasks of cooking, cleaning, and visiting a poor family to bring them food. She tells Beth not to forget about this family while she’s gone. Beth visits the family and catches scarlet fever. Meg and Jo had already had it when they were younger, but they have to send Amy to Aunt March’s house because Amy had never had scarlet fever before. Meg and Jo decide not to send word of Beth’s illness to their mother yet. Beth gets worse, however, and Laurie sends a telegram to Mrs. March, who comes at once. Beth does heal, but never completely gets all the way better. She is still very weak, and, at the end of the book, she dies.

I loved reading this book. It was my favorite of all the books we read this year. This book always made me smile every time I picked it up and even made me cry at times too. The family love and bittersweet moments were so heartwarming. I loved that there was a happy ending and each girl got married. They all had a family of their own, except Beth. However, we knew that she was in a better place. In the end, each girl learned to be a wise woman and a good mother. 

 
– By Jennifer Fuhrman

A Book Report: The Bronze Bow

The Bronze Bow was written by Elizabeth George Speare. This book is about a boy who overcomes his weaknesses and learns to love his enemies. In this book, Elizabeth George Speare did not specifically tell the readers what happened at the end. She let her readers make up their own ending.

In the beginning of the story, Daniel has a passion to avenge his father’s death by killing the Roman soldiers and driving them out of Israel. Daniel joins an outlaw band living in the hills by his village. Many events cause him to return to his home and take care of his sister. The book takes place in a city in Israel near Capernaum. This book begins when Daniel is with his band up in the mountains. He meets a boy named Joel and his sister Malthace who have decided to visit the mountains, not knowing that a band of rebels lives up in the mountain caves. Later on, Daniel gets hurt and goes to live in a little room in the wall of Joel and Malthace’s house. In a nearby city, Jesus is teaching and preaching. Daniel is drawn to the rabbi and expects Jesus to join his band of outlaws, ready to strike the Romans. When Jesus declines Daniel’s invitation to join the band, Daniel is confused. In the end, he learns to trust in Jesus and love his Roman enemies. The book ends when Daniel comes back to his home to find Jesus healing his demon possessed sister. 

The main characters in The Bronze Bow are, Daniel, Joel, Malthace, Leah, and Jesus. Daniel is very insecure, angry, and bitter at the beginning of the book. As the book goes on, Daniel changes. He learns that forgiveness, not revenge, is the right answer to his inner turmoil. Daniel and Joel become very close friends. In one chapter, Joel is taken captive, and Daniel risks his life to set his friend free. By the end of the book, Daniel has also grown closer to Malthace (Thacia). Elizabeth George Speare writes, “He heard Thacia catch her breath, and turned and looked into her eyes. He knew he was not worthy of the gift he saw there, but he knew that at last he was free to offer her all that he had in return.” She makes it sound as if Daniel and Thacia have a future together, but she leaves that open for the readers to decide.

I liked how the author made it almost sounded as if the author was going to write a sequel or epilogue. I also liked how Daniel changed so much. It was amazing to see him turn from a boy bent on revenge for his parents’ death to a caring and forgiving young man.

My overall reading experience of this book was very entertaining and educational. I learned so much about the life of Jesus that I did not know before. I also learned how hard it was for the Israelites at the time that the Romans ruled over them. After reading this book, I recommended it to my grandmother and told her that it was a must read. So, yes – I would definitely recommend this book to others.

– By Leigh Collins

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 Book Report: Number the Stars

In Number the Stars by Louis Lowry, ten-year-old Annemarie and her friend Ellen Rosen are waiting for World War II to end. In Copenhagen, Denmark, everywhere they look, there is a Nazi soldier ready to mock them. The Jews are being killed day by day, and suddenly the Nazis find out Ellen is a Jew. Annemarie and her family do everything they can do to keep Ellen’s family safe. As Ellen tries to blend in to Annemarie’s family, both Ellen and Annemarie must learn courage and bravery if they want to survive.

This story begins when Ellen and Annemarie are walking home from school one day. When the girls are stopped by Nazi soldiers on the street, they see just how cruel the soldiers really are. Later in this book, Annemarie and Ellen move into Annemarie’s uncle’s house. There they learn to have faith and trust that everything will turn out okay. Another scene where Annemarie must practice bravery is when she is sent into the woods with a package to give to her uncle who is at the dock in his fishing boat, waiting to smuggle Ellen and her family out of Denmark. She doesn’t know what is in the package or where it came from. As she is delivering this package, the Nazi soldiers stop her. Annemarie decides to act immature like her little sister Kristi would act. Acting like this saves Ellen and other Jews and gets them safely to Sweden. 

 

In this book, I learned that we should always stand up for what is right, even if it means getting hurt. Louis Lowry made Annemarie a very lovable character, because she stood up for her friend no matter what happened to her. She made it so clear that you should be brave and stand up for what is right even if it means getting in trouble. This book is a page turner – it will leave readers wanting to keep reading until the very end of the book. Number the Stars has been given many awards including the Newberry Award Medal, and has been named the book of the year by the School Library Journal.  

– By Leigh Collins

A Book Report: Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables was written by L. M. Montgomery. This book is about a girl named Anne who is adopted by brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. To Avonlea and Green Gables, Anne is a bright, sweet girl with a very big imagination. Anne’s parents died when she was very young, and Anne was in and out of the orphanage all her life. This book starts when Anne is eleven and ends when she is almost seventeen.  

The story begins when Matthew and Marilla decide to adopt a boy to help around their farm. Matthew goes to town to pick him up. But, when he gets there, a girl is sitting there waiting instead of a boy. He has no choice but to bring her home and ask Marilla what to do. On the ride home, Matthew grows to like Anne, so he persuades Marilla to keep her.
 
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Mrs. Lynde comes over and makes fun of Anne’s red hair. Anne lashes out at Mrs. Lynde and has to go and apologize to her. 

Another favorite part is when Anne and her friends decide to play “Lily maid,” and they choose Anne to go into the boat and be the “Lily maid.” The boat gets a crack and starts to sink in the middle of the lake. Anne climbs out on the side of a bridge. Gilbert sees her, rows his boat over to her, and rescues her.

The book ends when Matthew dies from a heart attack, and Anne had just won the Avery Scholarship at Queen's Academy. Anne decides to stay home and help Marilla because Marilla is losing her eye sight. Gilbert decides to give up teaching in Avonlea so that Anne can teach there and be near to Marilla. 

I really like Anne’s personality and her imagination. She is a very lovable character. I also think Matthew is a lovable character because of his sweetness for Anne. I found it funny how Anne needed puff sleeves, how she cared so much for her beauty, and how much she hated her red hair. Overall, I would recommend this book.   

– By Jennifer Fuhrman

A Review: Anne of Green Gables

Anne is adopted and lives in Green Gables with her new "owners" Marilla and Matthew. She is very imaginative and makes herself believe that she goes on wonderful adventures, but the only adventures she actually goes through aren't as wonderful as the one she thinks of herself. But each and every adventure teaches her a lesson.

Anne of Green Gables is about a very young and imaginative orphan girl who, with a lot of mix-ups, was adopted. Marilla and Matthew were expecting a boy, but it turned out that they received a girl. Marilla almost sent her back, but Matthew wanted to keep her all along because he liked her personality. When Anne heard that she was going back, she was so upset that she would not have a nice home to live in. However, when Marilla heard about Anne's past, she started to feel sorry for her. She eventually decided to keep her, which made Anne very happy, and it also made her feel like she had a real family and a real home in Green Gables forever. 

  

Overall, I did like this book. It has a lot of good and funny parts and it is very enjoyable to read. There are parts when Anne will talk on and on about a certain thing, then all of a sudden she will change the subject. Those parts were very funny, in my opinion. It also was sad in some parts, but most of the time the sadness would be resolved. Sometimes there were pointless parts where I think the author just put them in there to fill space. But, overall it was still a very good book.

I would recommend this book to others because it is good and enjoyable to read and because it teaches some good lessons about obedience, changes when going through adoption, and figuring out the difference between reality and fantasy. It does take some time to read it, but it is worth it. Personally, I liked this book and would recommend to many people to read.

– By Alexandria Adelle Mcbeth

A Book Report: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (An Adventure About Salvation)

For most kids, hiding in a dark wardrobe can be strange or scary, but for the Pevensie children, it was the start of an epic adventure. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe  takes place in the English countryside during World War II. The adventure begins when Peter, Susan , Edmund and Lucy are sent away to a professor’s house in the countryside to escape the bombings happening at home in London. They enter the magical land of Narnia through a wardrobe and find themselves in an entirely new land: a place of un-ending winter and a place where animals speak. They soon learn that they are the fulfillment of a prophecy spoken of throughout the land. 

The characters in this novel are fascinating. The White Witch, who claims to be the queen of Narnia, is one of the antagonists. The Great Lion Aslan, a protagonist, is the real king of Narnia. Edmund Pevensie follows his younger sister, Lucy, into Narnia. While he is looking for her, he meets the White Witch, falls under her spell, and betrays his siblings. In the meantime, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver take Peter, Susan, and Lucy to Aslan. Only the Great Lion is able to take back Edmund from the White Witch. The Witch says that Edmund must die on the Stone Table, but Aslan sacrifices himself so Edmund can live. In the end, Aslan comes back to life and defeats the Witch. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy become the kings and queens of Narnia and reign for many years before magically and suddenly returning home to England. 

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was written by C.S. Lewis in 1950. He converted to Christianity as an adult when his two friends, J.R.R. Tolkien (the author of The Lord of the Rings) and Hugo Dyson witnessed to him in 1931. He responded to his new-found faith the way writers do: by creating his own story of salvation for children to read and enjoy in the hopes of maybe even leading them to a saving faith. It is clear that Lewis’ Christian worldview and faith are the driving themes of this novel. 

There are many symbols in this book. The most important is Aslan, who represents Jesus. Edmund represents all of us, as sinners, who can be tempted by sin and easily give in to the darkness within. Another symbol is the Stone Table, where Aslan sacrificed himself for Edmund just like Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross for us, even though we are the ones who deserve to die. 

I really enjoyed reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because of its action, suspense, and its story of salvation through sacrifice and grace. As the youngest in my family and the tallest in my class, I identify with Lucy the most. However, all of us, as sinners, should identify on the whole with Edmund. Even though this novel was written as a children’s book, I feel it is fascinating for people of all ages.

– By Shieldmaiden

A Review: Anne of Green Gables

I really enjoyed reading Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. There are so many parts in the book that I love, but I’ll try to pick out three of my favorites. I really enjoyed how the author describes every event through Anne’s optimistic point of view. I also like how Anne is so adventurous and talkative. I really like the book all together. 

One of my favorite parts is when Anne breaks the slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head. It all starts when Gilbert teases Anne by calling her hair “carrots.” Anne becomes furious because she hates it when people criticize her looks. She stands up in class and picks up her slate and slams it on his head. She, then, never speaks to him for a while, and she denies his request for forgiveness until later on in the book. 

My second favorite part of the book is when Anne sees a peddler on the road, and the peddler says that the dye would turn her hair a beautiful raven black, but, instead of turning her hair raven black, it turns it into an ugly green color. Marilla finds Anne crying in her bed with the covers over her head. She asks Anne what she’s doing, and Anne replies by saying, “I dyed my hair.” Marilla then has to cut Anne’s hair very short. That time vanity got the best of her. 

My third favorite part of the book is when Diana becomes drunk. It begins when Anne invites Diana over for tea while Marilla is out. Marilla told Anne that they could have cake and raspberry cordial out of the cellar. When Diana arrives, Anne acts like a wonderful hostess. When she goes to get the cordial, she picks up the current wine instead by accident. Not realizing her mistake, Anne tells Diana that she can have as much “Raspberry Cordial” as she wants. When Anne is in the kitchen preparing the cake, Diana has several glasses of the current wine and becomes drunk as Anne returns from the kitchen. Diana says that she has to go home, but Anne does not understand why, so she follows Diana home and realizes that Diana was, in fact, drunk. And Diana’s mother does not let Diana or Anne speak to each other until Anne helps out her family in a surprising way.

This book is the kind of book I’m going to remember for many reasons. The characters are cool, and Anne is always talking. The setting of the book is great, and the description of everything is awesome. It really is a great book.

– By Victoria Scarlett Doman

A Review: Number the Stars

I enjoyed reading the historical fiction book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. This book revolves around Jewish people in Denmark, during World War II, trying to escape the Nazis. There was one particular part in the book that really stood out to me. In this part, the Johansen family and Uncle Henrick risk their lives to smuggle Jews out of Denmark. 

 
The Jews of Denmark were suffering from German persecution and were trying to escape to Sweden. Many people, including the Johansens, were helping the Jews depart. One night, many Jews secretly arrived at Uncle Henrick’s home to mourn for the loss of Great Aunt Birte. Everything is quiet when there is a sudden knock at the door. It is the Nazis demanding to know why all these people are gathered in the middle of the night. They reach to open the casket when Mrs. Johansen boldly steps forward. She tells them the doctor suggests it would not be a good idea to open the casket because Great Aunt Birte died of typhus and it may still be contagious. After much argument, the Nazis end up leaving, and then the casket is opened. There is no Great Aunt Birte, but instead there are coats and blankets for the Jews in the room. They all bundle up and head out to Uncle Henrick’s boat to make their escape.

Their escape to safety made me feel like I was actually there with the characters. I was worried these Jews would not make it to safety. The details of their escape were suspenseful and adventuresome. Even though these were only fictional characters, events like this really happened. This helped me understand more about World War II and the how difficult the life was of the Jews going through it.

I recommend this book to people who like to learn more about the history of Danish Jews of World War II. The author of this book makes you feel like you are there with the characters experiencing the struggles of persecution by the Nazis of World War II. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed it.

– By Kate Wetherall