Four More Newberys and a Book on Happiness
36. Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
“Who wanted to walk through lonely years, right foot, left foot, and never change step—never skip, run or skate?”
That’s Lucinda, an Anne-of-Green-Gables girl, filled with energy and enthusiasm, unexpectedly set loose in the city of New York. Lucinda’s parents head off to Europe for their health and Lucinda is left in the care of two very relaxed school teachers. She travels around New York City, befriending the poor and the lonely, on roller skates.
What a surprise to see a girl of the 1890’s, a society girl raised with all the Victorian rules and regulations stamped upon her, free to make friends with homeless men and battered wives of new immigrants and fruit sellers! I liked this book a lot. I wonder if Lucinda is able to keep her friends and her freedom once her parents have returned and regained control.
37. It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
Dave and his dad fight all the time and Dave’s mother gets sick. Dave brings home a cat who he appropriately names Cat. Cat helps Dave meet Tom and Mary and binds Dave and his parents into a real family.
I can remember reading this book when I was a young girl. I remember being confused about people who live in apartments (people do that?) and hearing a dad and his son argue all the time (a son is talking back to his dad and surviving?). I remember thinking Tom was an odd duck, a boy who was ignored by his family (does that really happen?) And the lingo the people speak, especially the young people, a dialect and vocabulary so different from my Texas lingo….This book took me right out of my little small-town world.
38. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
Eric Weiner hears about a study done on the happiest spots on the planet. He makes a plan to visit some of them and determine the happiness levels for himself. In the process he visits Bhutan, the Netherlands, India, Switzerland, Qatar, and Iceland, discovering one man’s happiness is another man’s misery. Later, he visits the most unhappy country on the planet, Moldova, and agrees with the assessment. He goes on to visit other potential joy spots and determines their happiness quotients.
Happiness is my topic of study for 2008. I’ve set for myself an unofficial challenge to learn everything I can about happiness. This book met the requirements of my challenge.
39. Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs
I’ve often heard little stories about the Louisa of this book, Louisa May Alcott, but I’ve never read much real information about her. This is a biography of her life. Louisa grew up in a family determined to change the world by actively living their beliefs. She was best known as the author of Little Women.
As interesting to me as Louisa May Alcott was her father. Bronson Alcott was friends with every influential person of his time including Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorn. He barely made enough money to feed his children, yet he felt led to always give what little he had away to help others.
Louisa provided the only income the family had for much of her life. She worked doggedly as a writer between stints of work as a governess, a teacher, and a seamstress.
What a family!
40. Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
How could a child read this book and complain about her life in 21st century America? The two families in this book suffer from the ravages of grasshoppers, illness, hunger, and jealousy. They argue and fight with each other, eventually going so far as to kill each other’s animals and set fire to the other’s farmhouse. A hardscrabble life complete with rattlesnakes and alligators and swamps. Yet there was also a beauty to this life, of neighbors helping each other, even when they have little for themselves. Some unbelievable elements—an alcoholic dad suddenly stops drinking and a child who never seems to do anything worse than get a little mad now and then—but all in all a worthwhile read.
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