It’s time to list some of my favorite books of 2025! I wanted to try something different this year, so I’ve made some graphics that include some of my very favorite books that I read for the first time in 2025.

Here they are!

🌟 THE LIBRARY OF UNRULY TREASURES by Jeanne Birdsall (a lovely new story from the author of the Penderwicks series)

🌟 PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS by Patricia Reilly Giff (an emotional, moving Newbery book)

🌟 MARJORIE’S MAYTIME by Carolyn Wells (a delightful vintage book, the fifth in the Marjorie series)

🌟 YOURS TRULY by Heather Vogel Frederick (the fun second book in the Pumpkin Falls mystery series)

🌟 ALICE ATHERTON’S GRAND TOUR by Lesley M.M. Blume (a vivid, charming MG set in 1927!)

🌟 FRANKLIN ENDICOTT AND THE THIRD KEY by Kate DiCamillo (one of the Deckawoo Drive chapter books, funny but beautiful and deep)

🌟 MAMA’S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS by Dionna L. Mann (a breezy MG with an irrepressible protagonist)

🌟 THE HOTEL BALZAAR by Kate DiCamillo (a short MG novel with elements of A Little Princess)

🌟 GINGERSNAP by Patricia Reilly Giff (a sweet, hopeful story set in WWII)

🌟 WAITING FOR THE MAGIC by Patricia MacLachlan (an enchanting contemporary from the author of Sarah, Plain and Tall)

🌟 HEIDI by Johanna Spyri (a classic for a reason! Powerful, beautiful, and engrossing.)

🌟 BEAUTIFUL GLIMPSE by Stephanie Nygaard (the best poetry I’ve read in a long time, full of heartwarming and inspiring themes)

Do you see any favorites on my list? Which books did you discover for the first time in 2025? I’d love to hear! Feel free to leave a comment. 🙂

I read some wonderful new (and old!) middle grade books in 2024, and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you, in no particular order. (And there are more I could talk about! I found so many great stories this year.)

• The Secret Sisters by Avi (2023): A delightful follow-up to The Secret School, one of my longtime favorites! I waited years to see what would happen to Ida at high school, and this is a worthy sequel.
• Somebody Else’s Summer by Jean Little (2005): I’m so glad I saved this to read in the summer! It’s a Parent Trap-type mix-up where two girls swap places during visits to family members.
• Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry (1966): An incredible novel based on a true story of a woman who dedicated her life to saving mustangs in Nevada.
• Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff (1997): This book was completely not what I was expecting based on the plot description, but I was actually pleased with that. It’s a quiet, gentle, yet powerful World War II home front story.
• The Grey Family by Noel Streatfeild (1951): What a joy to read a Streatfeild story I’ve never read before! Written for a slightly younger audience than most of her books, it was episodic, fun, and (of course!) about a young ballet dancer and her family.
• Ferris by Kate DiCamillo (2024): I almost think I liked this story more than Because of Winn-Dixie–it’s humorous and heartwarming and full of well-crafted characters. There’s been a lot of talk about this book winning a Newbery–could it be??
• Marjorie’s Vacation by Carolyn Wells (1907): Sweet, funny episodes in the life of a mischievous girl and her friends during a summer at her grandmother’s.
• Drina Dances Again by Jean Estoril (1959): Another great installment in the Drina series, which I’ve talked about before. I’m sad that the rest of the books in the series are so hard to find!
• Strawberry Girl and Flood Friday by Lois Lenski (1945 and 1956): I really enjoyed both of these books in Lenski’s series that features different regions of the U.S. throughout history.
• Summer on the North Star by Elsa Pedersen (1960): Originally titled Alaska Harvest, this story follows a girl who lives with her family a boat as they harvest crabs in order to earn enough money to buy their own house.
• Maudie in the Middle by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Lura Schield Reynolds (1988): Based on a true story, this gently comedic book is about Maudie, a middle child living on an Iowa farm in the early 1900s.
• Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (2014): For me, binge-reading is reading a long book in three days, so this counts as a binge-read. 🙂 It’s about a girl whose family moves to a small town and she helps run the family bookstore, solving a mystery along the way.

Favorite Rereads:

I reread tons of books every year, so this category is JUST the rereads that I vividly remember having a blast with. 🙂 There’s no rhyme or reason as to what will end up being a brilliant re-read for me, it just depends on finding the perfect book to fit my exact mood.

• Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
• The Four-Story Mistake and Spiderweb for Two by Elizabeth Enright
• The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
• Party Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
• The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser
• Sister of the Bride by Beverly Cleary
• What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
• Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
• Hey, World! Here I Am by Jean Little
• Family Sabbatical by Carol Ryrie Brink

My 50 State Reading Challenge

This was my big reading goal in 2024! I decided to read a children’s book set in every U.S. state. It was such a joy, even though it was hard to find books for a handful of states! It was such a fun challenge that in 2025, I want to read books set in 20 different countries.

Here is my final list of the books I read for the challenge! I’ve noted which ones were picture books (PBs), chapter books (CBs), middle grade (MG), or young adult (YA).

Alabama (Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai)–MG 
Alaska (Summer on the North Star by Elsa Pedersen)–MG
Arizona (Trixie Belden and the Mystery in Arizona by Julie Campbell)–MG
Arkansas (The Girl with the Mind for Math by Julia Finley Mosca)–PB
California (Sister of the Bride by Beverly Cleary)–YA
Colorado (The Secret Sisters by Avi)–MG
Connecticut (Flood Friday by Lois Lenski)–MG
Delaware (When Washington Crossed the Delaware by Lynne Cheney)–PB
Florida (Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski)–MG
Georgia (Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo)–MG
Hawaii (Growing Up with Aloha by Kirby Larson)–CB/MG
Idaho (Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion by Dave Eggers)–PB
Illinois (The Light in the Cellar by Sarah Masters Buckey)–MG
Indiana (Rosetown Summer by Cynthia Rylant)–MG
Kansas (May B. by Caroline Starr Rose)–MG
Kentucky (Happy Little Family by Rebecca Caudill)–CB
Iowa (Maudie in the Middle by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor & Lura Schield Reynolds)–MG
Louisiana (Meet Marie-Grace by Sarah Masters Buckey)–CB
Maine (The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall)–MG
Maryland (Chesapeake Duke by Gilbert Byron)–MG
Massachusetts (Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley)–MG
Michigan (The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson–yes, my own book!! It was fun)–MG
Minnesota (Carney’s House Party by Maud Hart Lovelace)–YA
Mississippi (Daddy Played the Blues by Michael Garland)–PB
Missouri (Depend on Katie John by Mary Calhoun)–MG
Montana (The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White)–MG
Nebraska (Elsie’s Bird by Jane Yolen)–PB
Nevada (Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry)–MG/YA
New Hampshire (Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick)–MG
New Jersey (The Slipper Point Mystery by Augusta Huiell Seaman)–MG
New Mexico (Secrets in the Hills by Kathleen Ernst)–MG
New York (The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright)–MG
North Carolina (My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston)–PB
North Dakota (Fly Away by Patricia MacLachlan)–MG
Ohio (What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge)–MG
Oklahoma (Angels in the Dust by Margot Theis Raven)–PB
Oregon (Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary)–CB/MG
Pennsylvania (Pie by Sarah Weeks)–MG
Rhode Island (The Automobile Girls at Newport by Laura Dent Crane)–MG
South Carolina (Honey Butter by Millie Florence)–MG
South Dakota (Judy Bolton and the Discovery at the Dragon’s Mouth by Margaret Sutton)–MG/YA
Tennessee (Lizzie by May Justus)–CB
Texas (The Boxcar Children and the Mystery at the Alamo by Gertrude Chandler Warner)–CB
Utah (Iron Horses by Verla Kay)–PB
Vermont (Lumber Camp Library by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock)–CB/MG
Virginia (Meg and the Secret of the Witch’s Stairway by Holly Beth Walker)–CB/MG
Washington (For the Love of Autumn by Patricia Polacco)–PB
West Virginia (A Piece of Home by Jeri Hanel Watts)–PB
Wisconsin (Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink)–MG
Wyoming (I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote by Linda Arms White)–PB

A few other books to share …

I had the joy of providing endorsement blurbs for the books of three friends: Writer on the Wall by Joanne Bischof (a sweet contemporary Christian novel), Road Trip Return by Becca Wierwille (a heartfelt contemporary MG story), and Beyond Mulberry Glen by Millie Florence (a beautifully written, character-driven fantasy MG). Definitely check them out!

Three non-kidlit books I enjoyed this year were L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle (my last new Montgomery book! <tears>) and two nonfiction books: Glad and Golden Hours by Lanier Ivester and illustrated by Jennifer Trafton (a lovely book to read during Advent) and Barefoot Summers by Faith Andrews Bedford (a collection of wonderful essays on summertime, family, and memories).

What did you enjoy reading in 2024? What are some books you’re excited about for 2025? I’d love to hear!

With September (my favorite month of the year!) starting tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to list a few books that I think would make ideal September reads.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
This delightful second book in the Penderwicks series takes place mostly in October, but it opens at the very end of September, which would make it a perfect read for the end of the month! (The Penderwick sisters’ plan to stop their widowed father from dating makes for a hilarious and heartfelt story.)

Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
Pretty much any of the Ramona books would be perfect for September with their back-to-school themes, but I think Ramona and Her Father is probably one of the best—it begins in September, when Ramona is already busily working on her Christmas list, until she learns her father has lost his job.

What Katy Did at School by Susan Coolidge
I’m going to be reading this story (one of my longtime favorites) in September—it’s such a fun book, featuring Katy and her sister Clover heading off to a strict boarding school for the first time.

Apple Bough by Noel Streatfeild
This lesser-known novel of Noel’s (often titled Traveling Shoes) has always struck me as just right for fall. It follows the Forum family as they travel from one country to the next so that second-eldest child Sebastian can pursue a career as a violinist—but all the siblings want is a home!

Around the Hearth by L.M. Montgomery
This recently-edited collection of short stories from L.M. Montgomery is absolutely lovely and has a wonderful autumnal feel–many of the stories are centered on home and family, as the title would suggest. My favorite story in this volume is Miss Curtis Comes!

What are you reading this September? Leave a comment below!

This year, I’ve undertaken a fun new reading challenge: reading a book set in each U.S. state. Of course, I am mostly reading my usual favorite, vintage middle grade! I hope to share the complete list of titles at the end of the year when I’ve finished the challenge.

I wanted to give a quick rundown of a few books in my state challenge that I really enjoyed recently.

Alaska: I had several books to choose from for Alaska, but I ended up going with Summer on the North Star by Elsa Pedersen. (This one was actually retitled when it was published again; the original title was Alaska Harvest, which is actually a bit more accurate since the majority of the book takes place in the fall.) I read this one in a single day (the fourth of July!) and enjoyed it a lot. The story follows a girl who lives with her father and brother on a boat while they try to harvest crabs in order to earn enough money to buy their own house.

Maine: I re-read The Penderwicks at Point Mouette for Maine. Again, I had many delightful books to chose from for Maine (one of my favorite states to read about), but I chose this third book in the Penderwicks series because I was in the mood for it. Although this book isn’t my favorite in the series (mostly because Rosalind barely makes an appearance), it’s still a charming story full of the wonderful humor that makes Jeanne Birdsall’s writing sing.

New Hampshire: Over the weekend I read Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick, the first book I’ve read from this author. (I know she is a Betsy-Tacy fan and I loved that there was a reference in this book to a ‘Hill Street’–maybe a subtle nod to Maud?) It’s a very fun story about a girl whose family moves to a small town, and she helps run the family bookstore–solving a mystery along the way.

Have you ever done a U.S. state reading challenge before? If so, I’d love to hear about it!

My friend Faith Elizabeth Hough (who blogs HERE) and I decided to create a fun reading challenge called Vintage Kidlit Summer. If you missed any of the details on how this challenge works, just go here and find out! Basically, we’ve done 12 categories over 12 weeks, and each week had its own theme. All you had to do was choose a vintage/classic book that fit that week’s theme, read it, and share about it! (Especially on Instagram, using the hashtag #vintagekidlitsummer.) And we compiled our recommendations in this blog post!

Our Vintage Kidlit Summer has been amazing. I have loved all the wonderful comments of what you’ve been reading, and other Instagram and blog posts detailing different reader’s picks.

Our twelfth week’s theme was A New Book with a Vintage Feel, and for this theme I re-read The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. It’s not really very new, I suppose—it was published in 2005—but it’s certainly much newer than our vintage books. 🙂

Here is what I said about the book on Instagram some time ago:

I remember the first time I read this book so distinctly. I was 14, it was a perfectly breezy day at the height of summer, and we stopped at a cute local bookstore. From the jam-packed shelves, I selected this book to buy, and spent the ride home drinking a milkshake and immersing myself in the appropriately breezy summer story!

I’ve read it all the way through three times now, listened to it on audio twice, and reread my favorite sections approximately zillions of times. 😊

I’m actually listening to the second Penderwicks book (also a huge favorite) on audio right now. As always, I pick up on different details listening to a story for the first time, and I’m enjoying the experience a lot.

Of all the Penderwick sisters, I’m especially partial to Batty, whose love of animals and tenderness makes my heart happy! The parallels between Batty Penderwick and Beth March are also fabulous, as this is a loose Little Women retelling.

I have discussed before (in detail) my love of the Penderwicks series, particularly its connections to Little Women. But even if you discover The Penderwicks before Little Women (as I did), there is still so much to enjoy.

Instead of a plot description, which I’m sure you’ve read elsewhere, I’ll highlight some of the things I love in this book: Batty. Hound. The butterfly wings. The Arundel attic. (MY FAVORITE SCENE.) Churchie’s kitchen. Jane thinking that a writer must have visited the cottage. The banter between Skye, Jeffrey, and Jane. Rosalind’s sudden interest in the Civil War. 😉 The Fimbriata rosebush. The awkward birthday party. The wistful ending.

If you’ve never read this book … go read it!

What did you read for the Vintage Kidlit Summer this week? Let me know in the comments!

I recently had the delightful opportunity to interview Sarah Mackenzie, author of The Read-Aloud Family and host of the popular Read-Aloud Revival podcast. I’ve listened to Sarah’s podcast for several years now, and I love her book recommendations, author interviews, and the wonderful way that she helps homeschooling families connect and discuss great stories! In this Q&A, I asked Sarah about her new picture books in the works, favorite authors, Little Women film adaptations, and more!

First of all, I’ve really enjoyed your book The Read-Aloud Family and, of course, your podcast! What’s the most fun thing about helping families find great books to read?
Thank you so much! I think my favorite part is when I hear from either a parent or a child that one of my book recommendations turned them into a reader, or helped them fall head-over-heels in love with books. As you know, I’m a big believer in helping kids find the books that light them up … and sometimes that takes a little trial and error! But once you’ve found a book to capture your heart and your mind, everything changes. Sometimes the biggest change isn’t in falling in love with books (because maybe they already did love books), but reading aloud has helped their family relationships grow stronger and more delightful. I love being a small part of that process.

I’ve heard that you have a couple of picture books in the works! Can you tell us a bit about them?
Yes! I have a couple picture books coming out each year over the next several years, and I couldn’t possibly be more excited about it.

The first is called Lou Alice and the Girl Who Noticed, about an old woman who makes life a little more beautiful for everyone around her, but whom no one really sees. Well, no one except our little heroine. She not only helps the woman, but also finds something beautiful only she can offer the world. It’s a book about carrying on the important work of those who’ve gone before us, about noticing the invisible women in our lives who make the world more beautiful, and about finding a small way to add beauty, wherever we find ourselves. It’s being illustrated by Breezy Brookshire, and if all goes according to plan, it will be out in the world Summer of 2022.

The second is a bedtime story called Moonflower Song, about a small shrew who follows her curiosity out into the night to find a flower that blooms by the light of the moon. My hope for this one is that it just begs to be read aloud. That’s what I was going for, anyway! It’s being illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard, and will be released Fall of 2022. The sample illustration I’ve seen is just gorgeous. I can’t wait.

There are a couple more slated to come out in 2023, including a picture book biography about Barbara Cooney, but I’ll save telling you about those for later.

What are some read-alouds you’ve enjoyed with your children recently?
We recently listened to the entire Zoey and Sassafras collection on audio (written by Asia Citro) and my kids just loved them. I was surprised by how many of the scientific nuggets have stuck with them, as well! We’ve also just loved A Place to Hang the Moon, Kate Albus’s debut novel set during WWII, and Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Etsby Dagg, about a family settling in Palmer, Alaska, during the Great Depression.

What are your favorite historical time periods to read about in MG fiction? What time periods do you feel are underrepresented?
I love reading WWII stories and Great Depression stories. And then some of my favorite historical fiction pieces have been set in times I haven’t learned much about, like Inside Out and Back Again, which is set during the Vietnam War.

I’m not sure which time periods are particularly underrepresented in historical fiction, but I will say that I love reading books set in times and places I know very little about. For example, I recently read When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed (it’s a graphic novel, but I listened to the audio version) and learned so much about the lives of Somali refugees. I love it when a book does that— gives me a window to peek through, and opens my heart up in a surprising new way.

I’ve heard that you like the Little Women series! Little Women is one of my top three favorite novels, and I love both the 1994 and 2019 films for different reasons. Do you have a favorite film adaptation?
Oh, I love them both, but I think I like the newest version, directed by Greta Gerwig, best. My teens and I just re-watched it a few weeks ago, in fact! I was surprised by how many new layers Gerwig was able to uncover in this story. Those of us who love books like Little Women are fanatic re-readers, right? And then a new adaptation like Gerwig’s comes along and shows us that there is even more to be seen and loved than we had realized. While watching this newest movie, I felt like I was visiting my familiar friends, the March sisters, but seeing them for the first time, as well. I loved it.

Who are your very favorite authors?
Oh my, what a question! There are so many ways to answer this. I’ve got favorite authors for reading aloud (E.B White, Maria Parr, Gary Schmidt), favorite picture book authors (Tomie dePaola, Mary Ann Hoberman, Robert McCloskey, Barbara Cooney, Barb Rosenstock, Chris Van Dusen, and at least a dozen more), favorite authors to read on my own (Susan Meissner and Julie Berry), and then there are authors who make me want to write. Those are some of my favorites of all, because a book that makes you want to write is MAGIC. Karina Yan Glaser and Jeanne Birdsall come to mind right away. Classic favorites like L.M. Montgomery, E. Nesbit, and Edward Eager make me want to write. And every time I read the picture book, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, I want to write a new picture book. That book feels perfect to me.

I’m a huge proponent of re-reading books—in fact, I spent most of my childhood reading a handful of favorites, rather than discovering new books. Can you tell us why re-reading is an important factor for children in their reading life?
I couldn’t agree more—re-reading gets a bit of a short shrift, because we tend to prioritize reading new stories over re-reading those we’ve read before. But it’s helpful to remember that when we read a story for the first time, our brains want to know what happens next. We’re reading for plot, so we miss a lot of what’s going on— the nuanced language, the beautiful turns of phrase, those deeper levels in the storytelling. When we re-read, we already know what happens next, so now we get so much more of the language and so much more of the story. I also firmly believe that if we want books to become our children’s companions, we’ve got to give them the time and space to reread those they love best. That’s how a book becomes part of us.

There’s some interesting research that shows that kids retain more knowledge and vocabulary from a book when they’re reading it for the second or third time (not the first!), which is a strong case for re-reading favorites, rather than always reaching for something new.

Are there any particular stories you’d love to see told by current authors? What would be your dream children’s book to read aloud to your family?
I want to see homeschooling families show up in middle grade fiction! I also think the world needs more stories where siblings band together to get their family out of a pickle—where sibling relationships aren’t perfect or saccharine, but they’re healthy and uplifting. Where the family members are all better for banding together and supporting each other, even when it’s hard, as opposed to a main character who needs to ditch the family in order to reach his/her potential, which is happening a lot in modern fiction these days.

Many thanks to Sarah for participating in this interview!
Photo of Sarah Mackenzie by Audrey Menck 

Related posts:
On Revisiting Little Women and Parallels to the Penderwicks
My interview with Karina Yan Glaser, author of The Vanderbeekers of 141^st Street

Discovering a Classic

I recently reread Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. When I first read this book two years ago, in February 2018, I immediately added it to my list of treasured favorite novels. I couldn’t put the book down once I started it, and I found the same to be true even in rereading. There’s something so compelling about this age-old classic, something that has clearly transcended the decades and continues to delight generations of readers.

When I first read the book, it was like flinging open a newly-discovered door of possibilities. After I picked it up and devoured it whole (reading the entire 180k+ word book in a week), I rushed to read its sequels (Little Men and Jo’s Boys) and found them entertaining (but not nearly as incredible as their predecessor). I hurried to watch the 1994 film, a modern classic in its own right, directed by Gillian Armstrong and full of lush sets, gorgeous costumes, and a beautiful soundtrack. I hastened to read Invincible Louisa, the 1934 Newbery medal-winning biography of Louisa May Alcott. Since then I’ve also listened to a BBC radio adaptation (which I highly recommend)!

Going back to the beginning, I tried to read Little Women when I was nearly eleven years old, and bogged down somewhere around the time that Meg goes to “Vanity Fair.” The lengthy descriptions were too long for me to get through. I wanted to love Little Women—it was such a thick, substantial volume with lovely illustrations—but it was a bit too difficult.

Fast forward to 2018, and I decided to give it another chance.  I was curious to read the book because I had just read Edward Eager’s The Time Garden, a witty story in which the contemporary characters time-travel to the world of Alcott’s characters in 1860s Concord. (I appreciated the allusions in fuller context after I’d read Little Women.)

I also had just finished reading Jack and Jill, which I also enjoyed immensely. (Little Women was not my first introduction to Alcott’s work—a heartwarming collection of Christmas short stories, gifted to me by my grandmother in 2016, was the first book of hers I ever read, followed by An Old-Fashioned Girl.)

Books like Little Women don’t come along every day, and I am endlessly glad now that I didn’t read it until I was old enough to truly appreciate the story.

Connections to Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks series

The main reason that I gave the book another try is because the finale of the five-volume Penderwicks series was releasing in May 2018. “The idea of the original four Penderwick sisters came from Little Women,” Jeanne Birdsall, the author of the series, wrote on her website[1]. I was tremendously curious to find out if Jeffrey was going to marry Skye (the Jo character) or Batty (the [possibly] Amy character—more on this later). Hoping to find clues in Little Women to the outcome of my beloved series, I began reading.

I was already fairly convinced that Jeffrey would fall in love with Batty. The careful foreshadowing in the first books in the series strongly indicated this conclusion, and seemed to echo the wrap-up of Little Women. But although I liked Jeffrey and Batty as a couple, I braced myself to dislike the Laurie/Amy pairing, since everybody did. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I didn’t mind that ending. Of course I would have preferred Jo to “relent and marry Laurie,” as author Maud Hart Lovelace put it so aptly[2], but because I knew the ending beforehand, I was able to appreciate the subtleties of Laurie and Amy’s relationship and their whirlwind European romance. I was less impressed by Jo’s marriage to Professor Bhaer, but I also wondered if that outcome—the Jo character marrying an older man—meant that her Penderwicks counterpart Skye would eventually marry the “older man” character of Nick Geiger. The fact that Nick showed up all of a sudden in the fourth book and staked his claim as a major character made me wonder if he would play a significant role in the series finale.

Well, I was correct about Jeffrey and Batty, but wrong about Skye and Nick. (Nick hardly appeared in The Penderwicks At Last). I recently read someone else’s theory online, suggesting that Skye’s marriage to a student from the Czech Republic was actually an even more pointed parallel to Professor Bhaer. I loved this theory, and wish that this had been explored and expanded so that we could come to know Skye’s husband as well as we know the professor. I also wish that he could have had more lines (and at least one in English).

But is it true that Skye equals Jo, and Batty equals Amy? Obviously Jeffrey is Laurie, having been cast in the role of the next door neighbor boy who is accepted into the family. Skye resembles Jo because of her status as the second-oldest sister in the family, her feisty temper, and the fact that she has the one tomboyish name in the quartet (Skye being a much different name than Rosalind, Jane, or Elizabeth [which is Batty’s full name]). Readers have pointed out that Jane is the writer in the family, the aspiring authoress with all the wild ideas and imagination, while Skye is prosaic to a fault. But it is Skye, not Jane, who rejects Jeffrey’s attentions and has issues with her youngest sister Batty—which mirror Jo’s rebuff of Laurie’s proposal and arguments with Amy.

So does this mean that Batty is Amy? I’m more inclined to link Batty to Beth—both are sweet, quiet pianists who love animals. Batty has little common with Amy, save being the youngest of four sisters and eventually winding up with the Jeffrey/Laurie character. (Also notice the fact that Batty and Beth share an initial.)

More credence can be given to the Batty/Beth theory if you consider the section in Little Women when Jo mistakenly thinks that Beth has fallen in love with Laurie. I was surprised by this scene when I read the book, because it’s such an interesting addition to the story. It is partly because Jo is hoping that Laurie will forget about her and focus on Beth that she leaves for New York, where she meets Professor Bhaer. Fascinatingly, you can compare this sequence of events directly to the Penderwicks series: Skye leaves her family (and Jeffrey) behind when she heads off to her California college, where she meets the intellectual foreign man whom she ends up marrying. Skye also harbors hopes that Jeffrey will end up caring for Batty instead of her.

Additional Observations

I had a major revelation during my reread of the book. A highly important order of events in Little Women were shifted for the ’94 film, influencing my own reaction to the story. In the book, Jo goes to New York, meets Professor Bhaer, and—upon her return—rejects Laurie’s proposal of marriage. In the film, the order is reversed (to the story’s detriment, in my opinion). I think the Jo’s coming-of-age character arc is much stronger in the book, leaving you with a better opinion of her marriage choice.

As much as I love the film, it still doesn’t quite capture the nuances of the story and characters that I love best. The March sisters are extraordinarily multidimensional, a fact that tends to get lost in adaptations that have to compress the story to adhere to a shorter length.

Here’s a Twitter thread that I created during my reread, with more notes that I took:

1 – There’s an interesting subplot in which Jo thinks Beth is in love with Laurie. What might have happened if this was true, and if Beth had lived and told Laurie about her feelings?

2 – In the second half of the book, the chapters about Meg feel disconnected from the rest of plot. Jo’s, Beth’s, and Amy’s stories weave seamlessly together, but Meg’s do not. I wish Meg’s subplots had been more vital to the overall plot.

3 – As soon as Professor Bhaer is introduced, it’s immediately clear that Jo will end up marrying him. What if there had been a third possible love interest thrown into the mix? Perhaps one of her editors? That might have been fascinating.

4 – Although Jo and Amy have a difficult time getting along throughout the novel, they are the sisters who are most alike. Both are highly independent and determined, and even Amy has some tomboyish aspects to her character. In personality, Beth and Meg are similar as well.

Not long ago, I read a review of Little Women in which the reviewer felt that the characters didn’t seem real to her…I was a little shocked. The Alcott sisters seem like some of the most realistic and relatable girls I’ve ever read about (and not surprisingly, since they were closely based on the author’s own family). The humor of their family life and foibles, particularly in the first half of the book, is so spot-on. For me, rereading the book was like reuniting with old friends—and I think many other readers feel the same way.

There is a new film version of the book out now—it premiered last Christmas. I have yet to see it, but I am looking forward to comparing it to the 1994 movie and to the novel itself. I have read about director Greta Gerwig’s careful attention to detail, her array of inspirations, and the unusual story structure that she chose for telling the story in a new way. I am curious to see how the new cast interprets the characters.

In my mind, films and radio dramas and audiobooks and illustrations—and yes, even sequels—are complementary aspects to the books themselves. They enhance and allow you to look at the story in a new way. But they can never take the place of the story itself. This story is one of the finest, and therefore, one of the hardest to improve upon.

[1] Jeanne Birdsall’s Frequently Asked Questions, www.jeannebirdsall.com/faqs

[2] The Betsy-Tacy Companion by Sharla Scannell Whalen, Portalington Press 1995, pg. 97

A quick update! Because I haven’t done any writing updates lately, I thought I’d fill you in on my latest projects. First of all, I’ve been working on a new type of outlining for one of my next novels, which has been both an interesting and helpful experiment. I’ve tried to further hone my story structure, character arcs, and outlining over the past six months, and it’s fun and enlightening to test out different methods and new approaches to my novels. I also wrote a 14K-word novella in February, a sweet story set in the 1880s that I might end up expanding into a full-length novel at some point.

I only have 20,000 words left to write in my current historical novel (I’m at 45K of 65K). This particular book is delightfully fun to write – it’s the fourth in a series and by now, the characters are so firmly established in my head that it’s simply a matter of finding the most effective situations and scenes to propel their individual stories along.

About a month ago, I also experimented with a style of writing that straddles the line between prose and poetry. Using this style, I wrote a few scenes for a future book – and loved the outcome. That particular story hasn’t percolated in my brain long enough for me to write it, but I definitely feel that I will return to it someday.

I’m also currently gathering ideas for my next MG novel, sifting through plot elements and characters and concepts and settings. I’ve been testing out *a lot* of ideas lately, trying to find ones with that inspire me most. I think I’ve possibly hit upon my favorite idea in a long time!

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful spring!

Recently Read: Miss Billy series by Eleanor Porter, The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson, The Penderwicks At Last by Jeanne Birdsall

Currently Reading: The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright

I’m always intrigued when the topic of re-reading comes up. Sarah Mackenzie at Read-Aloud Revival recently did a blog post/podcast about the importance of childhood re-reading, and I wholeheartedly agree with her assessment of its benefits and virtues. Sarah says:

A first read is a wonderful experience, indeed. But a second, third, or tenth time through offers riches that cannot be found any other way.

It surprises me when people say that they don’t often return to books they’ve read before, because I love revisiting old favorites… and not-so-old favorites! If I read a book and thoroughly enjoy it, I typically re-read it a few years later (or even sooner).

In fact, most of my childhood reading involved paging through my favorites for the thousandth time instead of (gasp) trying a new book. I’m a fairly choosy reader and I was even choosier back then, rarely venturing farther than my Noel Streatfeilds and American Girls and Saddle Clubs. (Speaking of American Girl, I’m in the mood to re-read a few of those mysteries; I have Secrets at Camp Nokomis on my desk. I don’t believe they’re publishing any new AG mysteries anymore, which is too bad – they were fun.)

There’s a select group of stories that I revisit constantly. These are the books that rarely sit for long before they get hauled out and re-read start to finish.

The list of “perfect re-reads” will be different for everyone, but this is my list of all-time favorite re-reads (which means they’re just my favorites in general) that I will continue to revisit industriously for … well, forever. 🙂

Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy series, Emily of Deep Valley and Carney’s House Party

L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, Pat of Silver Bush series (can’t I re-read these yet? I read them in autumn 2018… that was a long time ago!), Jane of Lantern Hill (pretty much every year), and the Emily of New Moon series

Anything Noel Streatfeild but particularly The Bell Family, Caldicott Place, Ballet Shoes, the Gemma series, Dancing Shoes, Theater Shoes, and The Magic Summer

Pollyanna and Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor H. Porter (These are the sort of books you have to re-read because you pick up different subtleties each time)

The Judy Bolton series by Margaret Sutton

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen (I’ve technically never RE-READ this but I read some of it and didn’t finish it [2016], tried it again and loved it [2017], was in the mood to re-read it but instead listened to the whole thing on audio [2019] and I know I will revisit it again!)

From Anna and Listen for the Singing by Jean Little

Anything by Elizabeth Enright (I’ve read every single one of her novels and cherished each one. Time to re-read the Melendys again, right? No, not quite enough time has passed since I last went through the series…perhaps the Gone-Away Lake series! The last time I read the first book in the series was March 2018, that ought to have been long enough…)

What Katy Did and What Katy Did at School by Susan Coolidge

The Secret School by Avi

The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall (Let’s see, I read the first book in 2012 and re-read it in dribs and drabs for years and then read the whole thing again 2018 and listened to it on audio in 2019 and can’t I read it again yet??)

The Meg mysteries by Holly Beth Walker (I think it’s time to re-read The Treasure That Nobody Saw)

The Katie John series by Mary Calhoun

Hilda van Stockum’s Mitchells series, which are quite possibly the coziest re-reads you can imagine. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve re-read Friendly Gables, the third book in this unforgettably sweet trilogy. I think it’s time I finally tried her Bantry Bay series…I have never been able to convince myself that it will measure up. But maybe I will be proven wrong!

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

The Patty Fairfield series by Carolyn Wells (oh, these are such fun! And so…unbelievable! The first time I read the series, I tried to count how many marriage proposals Patty received, but it was a lost cause. The answer: far too many to count.)

Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series, but especially Ramona Forever

What books do you love to re-read? Which books are you always returning to? Leave a comment!

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!)