Age 7
Cherry Ames, nurse extraordinaire, has a variety of adventures in the books in this series. In this one, Cherry is a nurse at a girls’ summer camp, where she helps the girls get along, tends to a variety of nursing duties, and has a mystery to solve.
These old books are favorites from my childhood which have happily been re-released. While the writing is not of particular quality, the books have value as mysteries, variety in setting, and old fashioned nostalgia.
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This is another book-from-childhood. It’s a great adventure in which an orphaned brother and sister, both with mysterious powers, run from a pursuer and toward those like them.
I was struck, rereading this as an adult, by the opportunity the author took to comment on various issues like gun control. It felt a little agenda-like to me but would not be noticed by children and did not detract from a compelling story.
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Ella is given the gift of obedience as a baby, which quickly reveals itself as a curse. After much suffering, Ella finally takes steps to break the curse, both for her own benefit and for a prince’s.
Based on Cinderella, this book tells a much deeper story than the fairy tale version, complete with magical creatures, a fairy godmother, mean stepsisters, and all the rest. The languages add another layer as well, and there is a glossary in the back with words from the various languages.
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I resisted these books for years, thinking they were not quality. Boy, was I wrong. I absolutely love this series and have read it many times. One of the most impressive things to me is how good a writer Rowling is—she mentions things in book one or two, then fully develops them into plot twists in future books. The attention to detail, humor, characterization, and gifted storytelling combine with a novel setting to make each book a compelling read.
This first book introduces Harry to the wizarding world. I love the descriptions of secret passageways and quirky castle magic and Harry’s whole introduction to this life. An important point to note about this series is that books 1-3 are more benign. The story gets increasingly dark with subsequent books.
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Annika is an Austrian orphan raised by servants. Though she loves her new family and her friends, she dreams of her mother arriving one day. When this actually happens, the subsequent events are not quite as Annika dreamed. She suffers and is mistreated but is ultimately rescued. Essentially, it was all an act to steal valuable jewels Annika did not even know she had.
I was delighted to discover this author when my daughter brought this book home from her school library. Between the generous amount of Vienna history, the character of Annika, and the mysterious nature of the jewels and Annika’s fate, this makes for a fast-reading book.
Click for Discussion QuestionsWhile my focus is chapter books, this picture book is worth mentioning. A friend gave it to me in college as we frequently despaired over the brazen lack of etiquette in society. In fact, we saw a disproportionate number of these very things happen on the streets of NY.
The pictures are awesome; the text is amusing (and informative). I chuckle every time I read it.
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Thirteen-year-old Laura and her family suffer through a long and difficult winter on the prairie. Heavy snows keep the trains from running to her town, and slowly, the town runs out of food. The book details the difficult winter and Almanzo’s bravery in helping to save the town.
This book, though it has a slower storyline than most other Laura books, is also one of my favorites. It highlights the interdependence of the town and the sprit that made the pioneers persevere in the face of adversity.
Click for Discussion QuestionsAlice wishes for a baby brother, but her family gets a giant baby instead. Following this perplexing incident is an action-packed story complete with baby care, multiple kidnappings, skipped school, children banding together, a mad scientist, and a trial.
Told from a humorous perspective, this story reminds me a bit of the fanciful approach that Roald Dahl uses. An unbelievable event dropped into the middle of everyday life makes for an enjoyable tale.
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Chester the cricket, inadvertently displaced from his country home, finds friendship in New York’s Times Square station. We get a small animal-sized view of the world and a view of friendships between animals and also between people and animals.
Discussed in the books are the struggles of a family that owns a newspaper stand, the unintentional trouble the sympathetic animals create, and an idea of the little incidents that make NY such a cool place that does not always live up to its reputation as a cold, unfriendly city.
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Ginnie notices that her peers are all good at something, so she seeks her own talent. As she pursues this idea, she sees that her best friend, Geneva, has different priorities and interests. Ginnie works to discover what she is good at and finds that she has a way with young children. Ginnie also realizes that pursuing her interests is hard work but enjoyable.
This is a good way to begin a discussion of your daughter’s talents and interests. It is also useful to discuss the idea that friendships are not dependent on sharing particular talents and interests. Ginnie and Geneva and the other girls have plenty of other things in common and are therefore free to develop these individual aspects of their personalities.
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