Category: Books

The Brave Learner

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

The Brave Learner
by Julie Bogart

A few months ago, I remember wishing I had a veteran homeschool mother to talk to.  Someone who had made it through the journey and could offer me the comfort and wisdom that all of this really would work.  That we hadn’t ruined our children by not teaching the standards and keeping to the schedule.  That we would be ok, even if we didn’t ever quite perfect the housecleaning schedule or meal plan.  That even if we broke down into not-so-great versions of ourselves in a ludicrous effort to “help” our kids be forced into better versions of THEMselves, that we would still be ok.

Granted, we are at the beginning of this homeschooling journey and this book only just came out recently.  But, I feel like it’s what I’ve been searching for all along.  I come away from reading it feeling more peaceful about homeschooling, but also about our whole parenting and adult journey.  I almost feel like if I do little else with my kid for the next few weeks but really take in this book, it would be time well spent.  But, of course, learning is always happening, and that’s part of what I love about this book.  It’s almost like it’s giving me permission to do what I’ve felt in my gut is right all along.  The lengthy conversations and explanations our daughter begs for.  Storytelling and asking questions together.  Playing and reading and supporting the kids in following through with their ideas.  Even though I feel like a very relaxed, flexible homeschool mama, my former life as a teacher, and, frankly (as much as I say it doesn’t) societal expectations, often get in the way of me just following my gut.

The Brave Learner will be a touchstone during this homeschool journey.  And I am overjoyed to discover all the other resources Ms. Bogart offers.  Her Brave Writer program, her podcast, her poetry teatime, for goodness sake.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Ogre Enchanted

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Ogre Enchanted (2018)
by Gail Carson Levine

Ogre Enchanted tells the story of Evie, a young healer who refuses an unexpected marriage proposal from her best friend.  A meddlesome fairy present at the time of the proposal doesn’t like such disappointments and casts a spell on Evie that turns her into an ogre.  Now Evie has 62 days to secure (and accept) another proposal before she stays an ogre forever.  Through her interactions with giants, ogres, dragons, and humans, Evie fights for her survival and battles between her healer instincts to help and her ogre instincts to harm, as she looks for a true love who can see past her hairy and smelly exterior.

20 years after Ella Enchanted, Ms. Levine has given readers a spirited, page-turning companion book.  Ogre Enchanted‘s story takes place a couple years before the original book, and its epilogue leaves off just months before Ella’s birth.  Fans of Ella will enjoy the references and connections between the two books, although, as these were obviously not written as a set, some forgiveness in details must be present.  (I read one reviewer who was quite upset that Ella Enchanted had left out details that couldn’t have been written before its prequel was penned.)  Ogre Enchanted is definitely for an older audience than Ella Enchanted, with some rather violent bits.  Ms. Levine says her story was inspired by the Portuguese tale of “The False Prince and the True,” although many reviews also compare this book to “Beauty and the Beast.”

After my second read of this book, I really enjoyed doing a re-read of Ella Enchanted and found fun details and connections.  Perhaps they weren’t all intended ones (such as the healer in Char’s group of knights possibly being Evie’s son…?), but I had fun searching, nonetheless.

Austenland

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Austenland
by Shannon Hale

Thirty-something, Jane Hayes, has never had much luck in love.  While she claims to be disinterested, deep in her heart she knows she is secretly measuring each man against a very high standard–the one and only, Mr. Darcy.  Apart from her fascination with the Jane Austen books, she has also watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series more times than she’d care to admit.  When Jane is given an opportunity to spend three weeks immersing herself in Jane Austen’s world at an exclusive experience/stay called Austenland, Jane hopes this will be her chance to finally say good bye to her fantasy.  With all the outfits and dinners and twists and turns of an Austen novel, Jane finds herself wavering between finally living out her daydreams and realizing maybe, just maybe, reality, even with its disappointments, might be better.

As with so many books I’ve read and reread, I have the amazing gift of a forgetful memory.  And so, on the most recent reread of Austenland, I found myself staying up late each night to read just one more chapter to find out what happens.  Having also just rewatched the BBC Pride and Prejudice twice in the last few weeks (at the request of our six-year old), I found this book all the more fun.  Thank you again, Shannon Hale.

P.S.  Gotta love Ms. Hale’s letter to Colin Firth.

Kid Lit Women

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Kid Lit Women is:

“A podcast of interviews and essays focusing on women’s and gender issues, including non-binary and gender fluidity, in the children’s literature community and all its intersectionality!”

There were 100 episodes posted from July 2018 to June 2019, and while I’m unsure if there are any plans to add more, I’m so excited to visit all these recorded podcasts.  I am a huge Grace Lin fan, but I only just recently discovered this podcast, so I have many, many more episodes to enjoy.  I’m delighted to hear these issues being discussed, and when I realized episode 3 was a conversation between two of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale and Grace Lin, I almost couldn’t believe my ears!   I think Grace Lin is super rad for taking the initiative on this, and I love that so many authors stepped up to have this discussion.  Thank you all! (…she says, on the very off-chance any of these amazing people visit…)  =)

The Goose Girl

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

The Goose Girl (2003)
by Shannon Hale

I love Shannon Hale‘s books.  My first book of hers was The Princess Academy, and I remember the lovely way I felt after reading it and seeing there was this other Shannon Hale book out there called The Goose Girl.  And, for some reason, I resisted looking into it right away.  Unfamiliar with the fairy tale it’s based on, my mind started making up stories about what the book was about before even cracking the cover.  The Goose Girl is an incredible book (of course) and (lucky for the reader) the first of a series of four!

The Goose Girl is based on the Grimm’s fairy tale of the same title.  Doing my best to sum up the novel here– Anidori is a princess in Kildenree, but is arranged to marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom to avoid war.  On her three-month journey to Bayern, she is accompanied by many guards and her lady-in-waiting, Selia.  As they near Bayern, things start to shift.  Selia begins acting strange and a good majority of the soldiers seem to break off into Selia’s “group,” while a small number remain loyal to Princess Ani.  Selia’s plan is to show up in Bayern as the princess, instead of as the lady-in-waiting, since nobody there will know otherwise.  There is a mutiny in the forest, and Ani makes a close escape.  She spends months working as a goose girl in Bayern while she tries to figure out how to convince the king of the truth and stop an impending war based on false information from the false princess.

There is everything in this book–adventure, danger, humor, friendship, romance, courage, and so much more.  It definitely has some “darker” parts, so I’d be cautious of recommending it to too young a reader, but if you or your reader is ready for it, I can’t recommend The Goose Girl highly enough.  This last read of it was a re-read for me, and I could not stop turning pages.  I’m so excited to re-visit the rest of the Bayern books!