Tag Archives: historic fiction

The Great Unknowable End

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This story is set is the 70’s in a town called Slater, Kansas and involves a girl and a boy whose lives could not be more different. Stella wants to be a space engineer but once her mother dies, and her brother runs off to live in Red Sun, the nearby hippie compound, she feels compelled to stay to help her father and sister. Galliard grew up in Red Sun but leaves it after losing the Artist in Residence position that he feels he deserved. Stella is dealing with her disappointment and grief; Galliard is dealing with living in “Outside” in the mainstream society where his Tourette syndrome isn’t accepted the same way as it was in the compound.

And then strange things begin to happen in Slater, from red rain to eyeless snakes, and the town puts the blame on the Red Sun. The Red Sun returns blame to the Outside. Meanwhile, Stella and Galliard meet and strike up an unlikely friendship.

The book is filled with references to ’70’s music and culture, and reminds me somewhat of The Twilight Zone. It was an enjoyable book, although the ending is somewhat anti-climatic.

The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet

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The Secret Diary of Lydia Bennet  is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It is written in diary form from Lydia Bennet’s perspective. The author, Natasha Farrant, assumes that the reader has a good working knowledge of the plot of Pride and Prejudice; without that background, this novel won’t have the same effect on the reader.

 

Here is the preface page: Hertfordshire, 1811 but really decades behind the modern world because we are in the depths of the English countryside and nothing ever happens.

The opening page: Thursday, 13th June:  I am fifteen years old today, and this journal was a present from Mary. She says I must write in it everyday to improve my mind.

“Whatever for,” Mamma cried, “When she is so pretty?”

Father asked, “Are we certain Lydia HAS a mind?”

“Of course she does!” Mary said. “It’s just not very developed.” 

“Excuse me!” I tried to look down my nose at her, which was not easy because I was sitting and she was standing. “Right now, my undeveloped mind thinks you are extremely rude.”

And so it continues. Funny, feisty, enjoyable. This fresh twist on a classic story will surely appeal to fans of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.

A Hundred Hours of Night

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This adventure centers on a 15 year old Dutch girl, Emilia, who steals her father’s credit card and flies to New York City to escape the scandal he has caused as her school. Her father, the headmaster, fell in love with a student and was caught sending inappropriate text messages to the girl. Emilia had planned everything perfectly before she ran away, from booking the flight, to renting an apartment on Craig’s List, to printing maps and directions. But there were things she did not foresee: the apartment posting was a scam. And things she could not foresee: Hurricane Sandy was heading straight for NYC.

Emilia fortunately is taken in for the night by the occupants of the bogusly-listed apartment, and she makes friends with the Seth, the son, and Abby, the daughter of the tenant (who herself is out of town), and their friend Jim. Together they ride out Hurricane Sandy that not only rattles the windows, but shakes the building itself, and knocks out the power for 100 hours (hence the title). The four teens and tweens are without social media, unable to reach their parents, and are forced to find ways to survive this natural disaster.

While the plot is unrealistic, and all amazingly ends well, A Hundred Hours of Night is still an enjoyable read that will appeal mostly to 5th – 10th graders who enjoy action and survival stories.