As the title of this blog post explains, I’ve put together a summer reading list that includes some of my favorite vintage middle grade picks for this wonderful season. If you or your kids are in the mood for something fun, breezy, summery, and refreshingly old-fashioned – these books are for you! I’m re-reading some of these myself this summer. 🙂 Be forewarned that some of these can be hard to find, but the reward will be well worth the effort!

Gone-Away Lake (Elizabeth Enright, 1957), which features cousins exploring an old summer resort where two elderly residents still live. The sequel, Return to Gone-Away, is just as deliciously good. Check out my blog post on all of Enright’s lovely novels for even more delightful summer choices, especially Thimble Summer.

Jill’s Story (Jean Fiedler, 1965); one of my VERY favorites at age nine or so, about a 10-year-old aspiring writer whose family travels to Cape Cod for the summer. The climax – a birthday and a writing contest – is immensely satisfying.

Canadian Summer (Hilda van Stockum, 1948) is about a family who uproots to the Canadian wilderness in the post-World War II era – full of marvelous Montgomery-ish descriptions and exquisite characterization. For more info, you can read my posts here and here.

The Magic Summer (Noel Streatfeild, 1966), in which four siblings are sent to live with their eccentric great-aunt for the summer, and encounter a world of poetry, hard work, and mystery.

Jane of Lantern Hill (L.M. Montgomery, 1937). I’ve discussed this one many times on this blog before, because it’s possibly my favorite novel of all time. The story centers around Jane Stuart, who visits her father for the first time in her life one unforgettable summer. They subsequently buy a charming cottage on Prince Edward Island and all the whimsy begins.

Look Alive, Libby! (Catherine Woolley, 1962) is the charming story of a girl who has to overcome her many fears (like wild animals!) when she and her aunt go to spend the summer at a seaside cottage.

Cobblers’ Knob (Eleanore M. Jewett, 1958) was one of my favorite novels of 2019. The story centers on a brave girl who explores a supposedly haunted summer residence and makes friends with the foster child living there. The many unexpected twists kept me turning the pages!

Maggie Rose: Her Birthday Christmas (Ruth Sawyer, 1952). This one is just adorable. And incredibly well-crafted, and sweet, and poignant. Over one long summer, Maggie Rose picks all kinds of berries to sell in hopes of having a special celebration at the end of the year. Will she succeed against numerous obstacles that threaten to thwart her joyous plans?

Katie John (Mary Calhoun, 1960). Another absolute favorite from age nine or ten; an impulsive yet idealistic girl has a bunch of exciting (and humorous!) adventures in a nineteenth-century house alongside her new best friend. I think this book sparked my love of hunting down family history, because my favorite chapter was the one where Katie discovers the story of her great-aunt. The sequel, Depend on Katie John, is also terrific (I just re-read it)!

Half Magic (Edward Eager, 1954) focuses on the magical adventures that touch the lives of four children in what they thought would be a dull summer. A coin that grants them only half a wish proves more difficult than they originally suppose!

Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Maud Hart Lovelace, 1942) is another one of my very favorites from a young age – I think I was seven when I first read this one. It’s such a sweet story, and also perfect for young girls who will identify with Betsy and Julia’s quarrel. 🙂 The next book in the Betsy-Tacy series, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, is also awesome for summer (even though it’s more of a fall/winter book, LOL!) and I think I’ll re-read that one very soon!

No Children, No Pets (Marion Holland, 1957) is a book I discovered just last year, and I enjoyed it so much. The story opens when three children and their mother receive a letter informing them that they’ve inherited an old apartment house in Florida, so of course they head off to live there, with many escapades to follow!

Important note: If you like the sound of these books and know of any others in a similar vein, please leave a comment because I would LOVE to check them out! 🙂

At the close of this first month of the new year, here’s a quick update on my current books (and other things)!

What I’m reading …

I read eleven books in January to kick off 2021! Among my (new) favorites: The Anne of Green Gables Devotional by Rachel Dodge, a heartfelt read full of inspiring verses with charming illustrations; Karina Yan Glaser’s The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found, the fourth volume in the Vanderbeekers series and perhaps the most poignant yet; Best Friends by Mary Bard (1950s fun about a French girl moving to the US); Francie on the Run, the second book in Hilda van Stockum’s Bantry Bay trilogy. Rereads included Kate DiCamillo’s 20th-anniversary edition of Because of Winn-Dixie (with slightly altered text), and Jane of Lantern Hill (L.M. Montgomery), which I am having the fun of discussing with friends in a book group right now.

What I’m planning to read …

Some brand-new books just arrived in the mail, and here’s why I can’t wait to read them:

Emily’s Runaway Imagination (1961): I’m working on filling in my Beverly Cleary library, having stuck mainly to the Ramona books and her “First Love” series. I just read Mitch and Amy (1967) and liked it quite a bit, so I’m eager to read this one, a rare historical story from Cleary set in the 1920s.

The Four Graces (1946): A Little Women retelling-of-sorts set in WWII in an English village and written by D.E. Stevenson? What could be better? 🙂

Carney’s House Party (1949): I just bought this lovely two-pack that includes both Carney and Winona, two Deep Valley novels by Maud Hart Lovelace. I just read Winona’s Pony Cart for the first time last year and greatly enjoyed it, and now I’m looking forward to rereading Carney’s House Party.

L.M. Montgomery’s Short Stories, 1907-1908: Montgomery’s short stories often have such wonderful characters and situations that I end up wishing she’d lengthened them into more novels!

Two Little Women (1915): I read the second book in this trilogy in 2009 and the third in 2010, and I have finally bought myself a copy of the first book! Carolyn Wells’ writing is so breezy and fun.

Not pictured but also on my list: Jennifer Dances (1954): A 1910s-era story by Eunice Young Smith about a girl who moves to Chicago to live with aunt and takes up ballet. It sounds so sweet!

What I’m writing …

I am nearly finished with my current middle grade novel – only about 7k left to write – and then I’m going to be focusing on a revision of a middle grade manuscript I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2018! I am so excited about it, and I’m gathering research materials and searching for inspiration!

What else I’ve been enjoying…

Scrapbooking, looking through old family photos, feeding sugar cubes to sweet ponies, listening to Annette Funicello songs and Strauss’ Annen Polka, doing writing sprints with friends, gathering quotes for an interview piece for Inside Gymnastics, watching Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, and other delightful things. I’ve also been planning this summer’s garden, buying seeds and calculating how many flower beds I’ll need. I am hoping for an early spring so that I can get a head start on my seeds, particularly the Madame Butterfly snapdragons. For the first time, I’ll be planting glorious orange nasturtiums (a flower found in Jane of Lantern Hill, as mentioned above), and I’m crossing my fingers that – unlike last year – my pink poppies will actually come to fruition!

What have you been doing to brighten the long January days? Let me know in the comments! 🙂 

As I recounted in an earlier blog post, I was intrigued during my last reread of Anne of Windy Poplars to discover a bit of thought-provoking trivia between the pages. I realized that the subplot concerning little Elizabeth—a sweet child and immediate kindred spirit to Anne Shirley—was similar to the overall storyline of Jane of Lantern Hill, my personal favorite of Montgomery’s novels. I hadn’t reread Windy Poplars since reading Lantern Hill for the first time, and had not previously noticed the subtle similarities in the books.

Little Elizabeth and Jane Stuart both live with grandmothers who do not understand them (and whom they do not understand); both indulge in vivid daydreams to escape from their unpleasant circumstances; both are delighted to become acquainted with their long-estranged fathers and set off on happy new lives.

Then I remembered: Windy Poplars was published in 1936, just one year before Lantern Hill was published. Could it have been that Montgomery’s writings of little Elizabeth inspired her to expand the plotline into a full-length novel? I was almost sure this was the case. I’ve experienced that in my own writing: if I’m interested in a concept or minor character in one of my projects, I invariably return to that idea and expand it in a major way later on.

When I first read Windy Poplars at age eleven, my favorite element of the book was Anne’s friendship with little Elizabeth (especially the way Elizabeth chooses her nickname depending on her current mood). So I greatly enjoyed the thought that Montgomery had liked that subplot so much that she expanded it, thus creating Jane of Lantern Hill.

Not long after my revelation about Windy Poplars, I had the opportunity to read After Many Years (2017), a book of Montgomery’s short stories compiled by Carolyn Strom Collins and Christy Woster. Imagine my surprise to read in the preface: “In ‘Tomorrow Comes’ (1934) we see overtones of Montgomery’s novel ‘Jane of Lantern Hill’ (1937)…” So a short story, published even before Windy Poplars, had been the original basis for Lantern Hill? I couldn’t wait to compare the texts, especially considering the fact that the story’s title—“Tomorrow Comes”—seemed lifted from the pages of little Elizabeth’s daydreams.

As I read the short story, I took note of the innumerable parallels between Windy Poplars and Lantern Hill. The main character of Tomorrow Comes is named Judith (called ‘Judy’ by her mother and ‘Hester’ by her grandmother). Even in the first paragraph, this feels reminiscent of Lantern Hill’s heroine Jane (who is referred to as both ‘Jane’ and ‘Victoria’).

The similar material continues to surface throughout the rest of the captivating tale. The household members of little Elizabeth’s forbidding home and the members of Jane Stuart’s Toronto home are both drawn from the dynamic of family and hired help in Judith’s house. The story contains material that would later appear in Windy Poplars (idealistic daydreams of a land called “Tomorrow” and the place name “Flying Cloud”) and  Lantern Hill (the identical dialogue of the heroine’s fathers, a mysterious photograph, and a happy reunion).

The succinct story, charming in its own right, spawned two sequels of sorts, derivative versions that spun the story in a wistfully whimsical direction (Windy Poplars) and then took it to full breadths of creativity (as in the case of Lantern Hill).

Even more recently, I was reading the short story collection Akin to Anne: Tales of Other Orphans, edited in 1988 in Rea Wilmshurst. I was deep into the first story (originally published in 1933) when I realized that the lines sounded familiar…and then I realized I was reading an early version of a memorable scene in Pat of Silver Bush (1933)!

Again, the story was imaginative and fun in and of itself. And as I read more and more of Montgomery’s writings—even her nonfiction, as compiled in 2018 by Benjamin Lefebvre in A Name for Herself: Selected Writings, 1891-1917—I become increasingly aware of how she mined her earlier stories and articles for inspiration as she continued to write prolifically.

All in all, it’s an extremely interesting topic, and one I’d love to explore further!

When a friend recommended Amanda Dykes’ new novella to me this spring, I was eager to read it, since it was set in Maine (I have always loved books set in Maine) and took place in the 1920s (one of my *very* favorite eras). And I’m happy to report that I was absolutely enchanted with Up from the Sea—so much that I quickly read Amanda’s adult novel Whose Waves These Are as soon as it released. While the two stories are quite different in some ways, they both contain the same classic style, hope-filled themes, and achingly beautiful prose.

I recently interviewed Amanda to discuss her favorite children’s books, her writing process, and other delightful topics. At the end of our conversation, she also gives a few insights into her next novel, which has me completely excited. 🙂 Enjoy!

Reading your books was such a delightful highlight to my reading life this spring, and all of the vintage elements of the stories were so much fun! What are some of the reasons you write historical fiction?
Thank you, Anna! I’m honored!  You mentioned vintage elements, and I think that hits on a big reason I write historical fiction. I’m a bit of an “old soul” myself—our living room plays host to a player piano from the 1930s, a record player, and an old church pew at the dining table, but no television (it’s in the basement family room). There’s something so life-giving to me about simpler things, whether that’s because I’m an introvert or because of the fast-paced, always-on world we live in, and I think that’s a part of the draw to historical fiction, personally.

On a broader level, I find it a humbling and deep honor to get to take part in the lives of those who came before us, to pay tribute to the way things were, and to draw lessons from those places in story, too.

What are your favorite children’s novels?
Oh, so many! Children’s books are my very favorite of all. There are the timeless classics—anything by Louisa May Alcott. I also love Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney, Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster (more YA than children’s, but that was before “YA” was a thing!), The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Railway Children by E. Nesbit.

For more recent books, I love Mandy by Julie Edwards, the Mandie series by Lois Gladys Leppard, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall, The Vanderbeekers of 141^st Street by Karina Yan Glaser, The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton, The Green Ember by S.D. Smith…and the list goes on!

I’ve read that you’ve enjoyed Jane of Lantern Hill, which is also one of my very favorites! What are some of the things you love about Jane and L.M. Montgomery’s other books?
Jane was a thoughtful soul. I think I loved her first because I remember looking at the L.M. Montgomery books on the shelf at Borders when a nearby city first got a Borders. (It was a magical place and I still mourn its absence!) There were all the Anne books, all the Emily books, and then…Jane, all by herself, standing there in her mint-green book, clutching her hat on the cover with her dark hair and I was just drawn to it. And then the story of discovering life wild and free on the island, in contrast to her prior city-life, and how she found courage, community, and hope there—it was just an enchanting tale. One I need to reread! I believe that [a] sense of community, and the idea of every soul harboring a story, is what I love about Maud’s other books, too. I got to explore that a little bit in Whose Waves These Are—the unfolding of each character’s history—and I think writers like L.M. Montgomery and Jan Karon have carved out a home for stories such as these, which don’t always follow a linear plot model, but take little detours to get to know the characters deeply.

Can you give us some behind-the-scenes insights into your writing and research process?
Sure! Perhaps the best way to answer that is to give you a glimpse at what I’ve worked on this morning. First, responding to comments on some social media posts relating to my summer release (Whose Waves These Are).

Second, I spent some time brain-dumping some thoughts on the novel I will be writing this winter. It is always on the back burner, simmering away with ideas and slowly forming into a story, but I can’t yet dive into writing it, so I keep a running document called “master idea list” to gather thoughts that would otherwise be lost to the mess of my mind and memory. This idea list, which I keep for each separate novel, can grow to be upwards of 10,000 words by the time the novel is all said and done. This is also a time I am doing little snatches of research for the upcoming novel, including books, articles, documentaries, and random internet searches to see if a given idea will even work with how things happened historically.

And last, the project I’m actively working on is the novel between those two, which I have written and am currently editing. I have a multi-page document of feedback from my editor (who is wonderful!), and am chipping away at some of the bigger story issues right now. I took a break to answer your questions, which gives the story part of my brain (pretty sure that’s the technical term for it) some time to mull over things while I get to chat with you!

What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
Oh, it’s so hard to choose one! One that stands out in my mind, though, is Jolina Petersheim’s How the Light Gets In. She braved some trailblazing waters with her plot in that one, all while delving deep into heart matters in a beautiful way. So worth a read!!

I am so excited for your next novel to come out in 2020! Is there anything you can tell us about it? 
Thank you for your excitement! This dual timeline novel has been in the works for about four years, either percolating or making the rounds to publishing houses in search of a home in its proposal form. It was first born after a different novel (as yet unpublished) struck a chord with an editor, but it was in a genre they were not acquiring. She asked if I might have any other ideas, and after a brainstorm with my wonderful agent Wendy Lawton, we settled on developing this one. It has lived in hibernation in my heart for a few years while Whose Waves These Are was written and published, and it has been sheer joy (though also a bit of a wrestling match with the plot!) to pull it out and finally write it.

I can’t say too much about it yet, since it’s still in the editing stages and things can still change, but I will tell you that it has to do with ships, and stars, and five main characters who have stolen my heart. Their names are Lucy, Dash (the contemporary timeline main characters), Frederick, Elias, and Juliette (the historical timeline characters).

A few people have asked if this novel is related to Whose Waves These Are, and I’m happy to say that though it is a standalone, with a different cast of characters and a different setting (England! Be still, my heart!), I did sneak one side character in to this book who played a role in Waves as well. I hope readers will find his presence (yep! It’s a “he!” Let the guessing begin!) a fun surprise.

Many thanks to Amanda for participating in this interview!
Photo of Amanda Dykes by Michael Pettrey

Related posts:
My reading list from May, in which I chat a little more about Whose Waves These Are, L.M. Montgomery, Jane of Lantern Hill, and Jean Webster!

My interview with Karina Yan Glaser, author of The Vanderbeekers of 141^st Street

Check out some of Amanda’s books (her 2015 short story Tin Can Serenade is also a lovely read!)

I read some lovely books this month! I totaled nine books read in May (seven new books and two rereads). One of my favorites from this month was Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes, which just released at the end of April. I found it incredibly hard to put the book down; it was set in Maine (one of my favorite literary locales!), and the story was spellbinding with a beautifully uplifting message and memorable characters. Another favorite was When Patty Went to College by Jean Webster, first published in 1901. This author is better-known for one of her later books, Daddy-Long-Legs, but I found this book even more humorous and entertaining. It’s more like a string of short stories than a novel, and while this format can be dull in some volumes, this one kept up a good pace.

L.M. Montgomery’s The Golden Road was another delightful book from May, full of the delicious descriptions and characterizations that I love about Montgomery’s novels. While the first half of this one is funny and episodic, the second half is heartwarming and compelling. Another book I enjoyed immensely was Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson, which is set in 1919 San Francisco and features a 17-year-old girl who longs to be a reporter. I also re-read The Midnight Visitor by Margaret Sutton, one of my favorite Judy Bolton mysteries, and Katie John by Mary Calhoun, a favorite from age 10 or so that I still love reading. I also read some fun vintage mysteries!

I’ve started another reread of Jane of Lantern Hill, my all-time favorite novel. It’s always a treat to slip back into this wonderful world, and summer seems like the perfect time to revisit Jane and her father and their marvelous summer home on Prince Edward Island. Last December I reread Anne of Windy Poplars and was struck by the similarities of one of its subplots to the incidents of Jane. The subplot of Little Elizabeth seemed remarkably akin to Jane’s story, and since Windy Poplars was published in 1936, just year prior to Jane, I wondered if L.M. Montgomery was inspired to expand it into a full-length novel. Then I read one of Montgomery’s short stories from 1934, entitled Tomorrow Comes, and realized that it is actually the original story—Windy Poplars and Jane are both derivative versions! In fact, verbatim passages from both books appear in the original short story. All three tales are simply enchanting, so if you haven’t read them yet, do so right away! (But Jane is the best, so if you’re only going to read one, choose this one!)

This month I finished writing two major projects from this spring, a novella called The Joy Cottage and the third novel in my historical series, Every Beautiful Gift. Having finished these two, I’m hoping to work on some short stories—I have so many ideas floating through my head, I can’t wait to explore some of them!

I just finished the first draft of my latest #workinprogress! It’s a romance comedy/drama novella set at a lake cottage in 1946, and it’s been an absolute breeze to write ❤️📖😍 pic.twitter.com/uaKHvyTddL

— Anna Rose Johnson (@GymnasticsRosie) May 15, 2019

The garden is so beautiful right now! Everything is just beginning—all the young blooms are here or getting ready to arrive. I am so excited about my creamy-white marigolds, and they are going to be *so many* strawberries soon! The forget-me-nots are always a lovely treat as well this time of year. I’m especially pleased that my blue-grape hyacinths have come up for the second year in a row—I initially planted the bulbs in the fall of 2017. (As you might recall, these flowers appear the Pat books by L.M. Montgomery; they grow at Silver Bush!)

But at last they were throwing open the windows to let in the spring and Pat learned all over again how lovely young cherry trees were, waving whitely in green twilights, and the scent of apple blossoms in moonlight, and the colonies of blue grape-hyacinths under the dining-room windows. – Mistress Pat

I’m 4,000 words into my latest work-in-progress, a novella set in 1911 England. (A bit of trivia: my first historical story, written at age seven, was actually set in 1911 England. But there, the similarities of the two tales end.) 🙂

My last novel, entitled A Heart’s Memory, was set in a small English village on the cusp of World War II. I finished writing the first draft about a month ago, but I discovered that I wasn’t quite ready to leave England behind yet! So I chose this awe-inspiring nation as the setting for the novella I’m currently writing, which is called The Mistress of Half Moon Hall.

I polled my followers on Twitter to name the title of my novella, but it ended up tied between Half Moon Hall and Melody Hall. I ended up choosing the former:

Which estate name do you all like best? 🙂 The title of my new book will be “The Mistress of ______.” #amwriting #workinprogress

— Anna Rose Johnson (@GymnasticsRosie) August 9, 2018

Writing this story – which is currently feeling like a mash-up of Jane of Lantern Hill, Celia’s House, and Caldicott Place – is shaping up to be a perfect excuse to read through my old British issues of Victoria. This luscious, old-fashioned magazine has given me so many ideas for novels over the years, and the combination of sparkling photography and remarkable writing makes each issue very re-readable.

I’m so excited to continue working on this story, which will hopefully be available as an ebook this fall! (Or should I say ‘autumn’? After all, that sounds more British.) 🙂

CURRENTLY READING: A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery (This has made me laugh out loud more than once already!)

JUST FINISHED READING: Magic Elizabeth by Norma Kassirer (A middle grade novel from the 1960s featuring a lonely girl, time travel, and a mysterious old house. The story is a bit slow, but the writing is rich and beautiful.)

PLANNING TO READ NEXT: The House on the Cliff by D.E. Stevenson, Mine for Keeps by Jean Little, and Beany Malone by Lenora Mattingly Weber

A handful of the five-star novels I read this spring, in no particular order:

The Penderwicks At Last (Jeanne Birdsall)

I have never anticipated a book’s release more than this one. Since early 2015, I’ve longed to find out what would transpire with the beloved Penderwick sisters in one of my favorite series…needless to say, I was *very* pleased with the outcome. No spoilers, but I will say that there are two weddings and one potential engagement, which was a highly satisfying denouement!

Then There Were Five (Elizabeth Enright)

One of the great classic middle grade authors, the endlessly talented Elizabeth Enright (1906-1968) was a master storyteller and has written some of my all-time favorite novels (Gone-Away Lake, The Sea is All Around). This is definitely the best of the fabulous Melendy Quartet series—a celebration of summer, adventure, and family. Without a doubt, Enright is the best writer of description I’ve ever read.

Jane of Lantern Hill (L.M. Montgomery)

This is quite possibly my favorite novel ever. There are so many elements that I love—an awe-inspiring setting (what’s better than Prince Edward Island?), a cast of delightfully quirky characters, a practical but imaginative heroine, and one of the best endings ever written. I only wish there had been a sequel! (According to this article, Montgomery started writing a Jane sequel but never finished it.)

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (Karina Yan Glaser)

When this middle grade novel was released in late 2017, reviewers likened it to The Penderwicks or books by Elizabeth Enright or Eleanor Estes. I knew I had to read it—after all, how often do current novels even begin to compare to those classics? The thing that impressed me most about this sweet family story was the coziness of the environment and the timeless prose (in that respect, it had a lovely old-fashioned feel). I’ll definitely reread this one in the future!

The Secret School (Avi)

I’ve reread this one numerous times, because it’s always been high on my list of very reread-able books—probably because are several layers of depth to the story, despite its short length (it’s less than 25,000 words)! There’s a sweet simplicity to the tale that reminds me of Sarah, Plain and Tall or Charlotte’s Web, and it’s a fantastic coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old aspiring teacher.