Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Author: Joan Aiken
Year: 1987
Reading Level: Intermediate
Genre: Alternate history, novel

Plot Summary: Young Bonnie Green's parents are leaving for a ocean trip to improve her mother's help. They've hired a governess, Miss Slighcarp, and sent for Bonnie's cousin Sylvia to watch over the house and keep her company in their absence. Sylvia is everything Bonnie expected and wanted in a companion, but as soon as her parents leave, Miss Slighcarp asserts her authority in the most unpleasant ways. She soon sends Bonnie and Sylvia off to a wretched orphan school, but Bonnie's determined to escape and take back her home.

Red Flags: Scary adults

My Rating: A-. It took a while to get into this book, and by the end I was still puzzled by the wolves. But after the intitial kind of "Huh?" of the first 40 pages or so, it was quite entertaining and strange in an appealing way. Also, it's all Victorian and stuff and that's cool. Final note: Simon reminded me a lot of Dickon from The Secret Garden (this is a good thing).

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