Monday, December 23, 2013

Indentured Heart

This book is the third in the series "The House of Winslow" by Gilbert Morris. 

This book centers around Adam Winslow, Who is the son of Miles Winslow. (Who is the son of William Winslow.) While some of his family is only concerned about how much money they are making, Adam is kind hearted and good natured. Instead of being good at books, he is better with his hands and mechanical things.


While on a business trip in England he meets a little girl named Molly Burns and tries everything in his power to rescue her from an abusive father. he ends up bringing her to America as a indentured servant. What his family's reaction will be, he doesn't know.

this book is set in the 1740's to 60's, and 13 is a good age minimum.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Captive Bride

This is the second book in the series "The house of Winslow" by Gilbert Morris.

It starts out with Matthew Winslow, Gilbert and Humility's son. He goes to England with his uncle to try to find something to do with his life, and ends up marrying a girl named Lydia. When he gets put in jail for preaching the gospel with John Bunyan, he almost goes insane, and leaves his wife and disappears.

Skip forward about fourteen years, and the focus is Rachel Winslow who is Matthew and Lydia's Daughter. She has been raised by her grandfather, Gilbert Winslow, and her mother, Lydia Winslow. Her father comes back and they have to learn to forgive him. 

Go ahead about 25 more years and the family has moved to Salem, and they have to struggle through the Salem Witch Trials.

This is another good, fairly accurate, book set from 1658 to about 1692. Again I would put the age minimum at 13. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Honorable Imposter

This is the fist book out of thirty two in the series "The House of Winslow" by Gilbert Morris.

It is about a young man named Gilbert Winslow, who is a penniless man in the 1600's and is supposed to become a parson. He gets employed by a rich relative to spy on a group of puritans; but when things go wrong Gilbert ends up on the Mayflower with them. He goes to the new world with them and he has to learn to follow his heart.

This is a very historically accurate story of a man from that time, and I enjoyed reading it very much. I am going to say that 13 is probably a good age to read this book.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Five little Peppers

These books were written by Margaret Sidney, and are set in the early 1900's I will try to put them in chronological order but I may get a little off.

The first one is titled 'Five Little Peppers and How They Grew'
It is about a family of five children; Ebenezer (Ben,) Mary (Polly,) Joel, David, Sophronia (Phronsie,) and their 'Mamsie' who, in spite of being extremely poor, manage to have bushels of fun. Phronsie and Ben get the measles, and Polly has to do all of the work, until she gets it worse than everyone, and cant see. Phronsie gets lost, and the occupants of the little brown house go into a frenzy trying to find her. that's how they meet Jasper King: the boy who saved Phronsie and they have lovely times that Summer. The next spring Polly goes and stays with Jasper and his father. eventually the whole family comes and they come to stay.

Five Little Peppers Midway
Now living at the Kings' home as cherished members of the family, the children, especially Polly,make the acquaintance of the unpleasant cousin Eunice Chatterton, who thinks the Kings are degrading themselves by associating with the Peppers. She hopes to turn Polly into a willing servant, but eventually decides to train Phronsie instead.

Five Little Peppers Abroad
As it says in the title, the Peppers are abroad in this book. Not all of them though, Ben, David, and Joel stay behind with their cousins. The rest are abroad, traveling through England, France, Holland, and Italy. They make friends with an Earl and his family, ending their journey with a visit to the Earl's estate.

Five Little Peppers at School
In this book, the Pepper children and their cousins are at school. The boys (except Jasper and Ben) are away at boarding school, and they get into fights etc. Polly is going to Miss. Salisbury's school for girls, and she always has a gaggle of giggling girls fighting over her. When Polly and her school mates are in a train accident, Polly finds out that a brakeman has died. She decides to try to help his family by raising money for them.

Five Little Peppers Grown Up
Polly is now a music teacher and is having trouble with fifteen year old Amy Loughead, one of her worst pupils, is begging her to give her extra lessons so she can prove to her older brother Jack that she's a good musician and worthy to be taken on his upcoming trip abroad. Joel, David, and Percy are going to collage. The family gets into a train wreck while going up to surprise Jasper.(Who is working for a printing business in New York.) Polly breaks her arm and Pickering almost dies.

These books can be a little annoying, because everyone is perfect and they almost never do anything wrong. If you can get past that though, they are very good stories. I am going to say that you could read this book at any age.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Pollyanna

Hi everyone,

Today I'm going to talk about Pollyanna and Pollyanna grows up, by Eleanor H. Porter.

Pollyanna Whittier, is a eleven year old girl whose father and mother have died, so that she now has to live with her Aunt, Polly Harrington, one of the richest people in the little town of Beldingsville. Her Aunt Polly doesn't want to have her but as time goes by, Pollyanna slowly starts softening her heart of stone. She goes around telling everyone how to play her game, the just being glad game, and changes how people look on life. When a tragic accident happens the town tries to help Pollyanna play her own game.

Pollyanna grows up. There are two parts to this story so I will explain each one separately.

Part one: After returning home from the sanatorium, Pollyanna gets to go back to Boston for the winter. She is staying with a Mrs. Carew, who is a sad lonely woman who is pining after a lost nephew. While she is there, Pollyanna meets a boy named Jamie who can't walk, and a girl named Sadie Dean. Pollyanna finally convinces Mrs Carew to adopt Jamie as her long lost nephew.

Part two: Pollyanna and her Aunt are coming home after being overseas for six years. They are now poor, so when they get a letter from the Carews asking to board the summer there, they accept it with enthusiasm. When the Pendletons, the Carews, and Pollyanna decide to go on a camping trip, everyone has a wonderful time till the last day. Then something happened to ruin everyone's happiness, possibly forever.

These are two sweet books that teach you 'to find something in everything to be glad about.'
I would place the minimum reading age at about 6 or as soon as your child can read (I would suggest reading it to your child at an earlier age if you can.) Also I would highly suggest trying to play the Glad Game; it can be very hard.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Cat of Bubastes

Hello,

This book is titled "The Cat of Bubastes," it is a tale of ancient Egypt, and the author is G. A. Henty.

It is about a young prince of a people called the Rebu; his name is Amuba. When the Egyptians came and defeated the Rebu in battle Amuba is taken prisoner along with many others. When they reach Egypt, he gets sold to the high priest of Osiris. He becomes very good friends with the priest's son Chebron. They have many great adventures together including wandering around the temples at night, hunting, and fighting.

This book is a little bit boring in the middle of the book, but its an amazing read before and after. I have read this book at least five times, and I have loved it every single one of them. I highly recommend it for middle school and high school boys, although I read it when I was nine, and I'm a girl so go ahead and try it anyway.

Have fun!!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

SummerHill Secrets

Hello everyone,

The first book I'm going to talk about is "SummerHill Secrets" by Beverly Lewis, volume one. It contains five books, the first one is Whispers down the lane.

It is about a girl named Merry Hanson who finds her friend Lissa Vyner outside her house, asking for a place to hide. Merry takes her in and eventually they have to ask the help of Merry's Amish friend and neighbor Rachel Zook.

Secret in the Willows:
When bad things keep happening to her neighbor's farm, Merry joins with Rachel and Levi Zook trying to find out who is the culprit.

Catch a Falling Star:
When her friend Lissa begins monopolizing her secret crush, Jon Klein, Merry starts spending more time with her neighbor Levi Zook in spite of many remonstrances.

Night of the Fireflies:
Susie Zook reminds Merry of her long-deceased twin sister, and when a tragic accident happens, Merry refuses to give up hope even though everyone else has.

A Cry in the Dark:
A beautiful baby girl gets abandoned in her family's gazebo Merry falls in love with her, along with everyone else. She has to decide whether or not keeping baby Charity is the right thing to do.

I really enjoyed these books and if you are a middle school girl (or boy) I think you will enjoy them also. I would say that 10 is a good minimum age to read this book.

I hope you enjoy these books if you decide to read them.

Welcome

Hello, welcome to Bekbooks!

I am going to be reading and reviewing books, so if you have any suggestions, please share them with me.