Jane Eyre

I was getting ready for my reading list presentations next week, and I realized I never did a blog post for Jane Eyre!  I love this book!  It's one of my all time favorites, and I read it for the first time when I was fourteen, so I thought it would be a great fit for my 8th graders.

Jane is orphaned as a young child and sent to live with her aunt and uncle.  Her uncle loves her, but his death leaves her in clutches of her cruel aunt and cousins.  This terrible beginning only gets worse when Jane is sent to a spare boarding school with harsh masters.

She eventually becomes a teacher and leaves to be a governess for Adele, the ward of Mr. Rochester.  This is when things really start to get interesting!  Mr. Rochester is gruff and several years older than Jane, but it isn't love before the two develop a mutual affection.  Jane knows nothing can come of it because she is poor and plain, but Mr. Rochester is the love of her life.

Meanwhile, strange things are happening in the house, and no one will tell Jane the truth about these dangerous events.  Will Jane find love and contentment, or will she be thwarted by fate?  Read this gothic romance to find out!

I hope you love Charlotte Bronte's classic novel as much as I do!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

One day Alice is sitting outside with her sister feeling bored until she sees a white rabbit wearing a pocket watch.  This is the beginning of a great adventure.  She follows the rabbit down a hole, and from that moment on nothing behaves like it is supposed to.  There is growing and shrinking, a philosophical caterpillar, a mad hatter, and a shape-changing baby.  Don't forget the Queen of Hearts who is cruel and tricky.

In the second part of this volume, Alice returns to Wonderland by going through a mirror into Looking Glass Land.  Here she meets the players on a chess board and has many strange experiences as the she plays on a large scale board with the Red Queen and the White Queen.  Alice begins as a pawn, but she must try to become a queen herself if she hopes to return home again.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Young Dorothy's life in Kansas is gray and boring until she is swept up in a cyclone that deposits her and her dog, Toto, in the wonderful land of Oz.  She lands among the munchkins who are grateful to her for killing their greatest enemy, the Wicked Witch of the East, even if it was just an accident.  Despite the excitement of this new land, Dorothy quickly begins to long for home, so she heads off to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard hoping he will have the power to send her back to Kansas.

Along the way, she will meet a scarecrow longing for brains, a tin man longing for a heart, and a lion who wishes for courage.  These companions will discover wonders and face dangers in the hopes of having their wishes granted.

I've seen the moving too many times to count, but I am a little embarrassed to admit this is the first time I've read the book.  It is of course similar to the movie, but there are some core differences that were startling.  For example, rather than the constant enemy and villain she is in the movie, the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't appear until about two thirds of the way through the book!  All in all, L. Frank Baum's classic tale is definitely worth a read in its own right and as the inspiration for all the popular culture that it inspired.

Just for kicks, here is the trailer created for the 75th anniversary of the film:

The Hound of the Baskervilles

When Doctor Charles Mortimer arrives at 221B Baker Street, he has a tale for Sherlock Holmes that is strange and difficult to believe.  His friend and former owner of Baskerville Hall is dead from a heart attack.  His body was found on the moor, and Dr. Mortimer believes he died of fright.

Mortimer tells the story of a terrifying hellhound that haunts the Baskerville family.  It sounds difficult to believe, and Mortimer struggles to believe it himself, but it true that something happened at Baskerville Hall.

Now Holmes and Watson are on the case to discover the truth about the hound of the Baskervilles and to protect the life of the new heir. 

Holmes and Watson are both skeptical, but once they are confronted with strange events on the moor, will they be able to deny the evidence of their own eyes?  Will they be able to solve the case before the cursed hound claims another victim?

Read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic mystery to find out!

The Secret Garden

Mary was born in India to parents who never paid her any attention.  She learned to be selfish, cruel, bad tempered, and loved by no one.  When a tragedy strikes her home, she soon finds herself in Yorkshire, England, where the climate and the people are completely different from her home in India.

She is in a mysterious and large house where her uncle does not wish to see her, but she is surrounded by servants who wont stand for her demanding behavior.  Soon she begins to spend time outside in the gardens where she loves the plants and animals, and she slowly begins to change.

But there is one garden she is not allowed to enter.  The gate is locked and the key buried because it is a painful reminder of the past and the secrets of her new home.  The mystery of this locked garden is not the only one at Misselthwaite Manner.  Sometimes Mary hears strange cries, but the servants tell her she is imagining things.

What is the secret pain of Misselthwaite Manner?  Can a simple garden heal broken hearts?  Read Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic story to find out!  Also, visit this site to find out about Yorkshire, England, the setting for this story.

Here is the trailer a movie version:

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

This is a reimagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein which just means the author took the basic ideas of the original story and looked at them in a different way or in this case, fleshed out part of the story.  Oppel looks at Victor Frankenstein as a teenager.  Victor and his twin brother, Konrad, are best friends, but that doesn't mean there isn't a touch or jealousy and competition in their relationship.  This competitiveness only increases for Victor when he thinks of the lovely Elizabeth. 

Life is relatively peaceful until Konrad becomes unexpectedly ill, and all medical efforts fail.  Victor remembers a dark library hidden in the house with alchemy books and papers.  He struggles to create an Elixir of Life to save his brother and to glorify himself.  Victor and Elizabeth must battle vicious creatures and cunning enemies to meet their goal, but Victor finds the danger exhilarating. 

This book was a heart pounding thrill ride that manages to be character driven at the same time.  Oppell looks further into Victor's motivations than the original story does, and he creates a character who is believable and disturbing.

The best compliment I can give This Dark Endeavor is it inspired me to read the original Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I'd never read it, but I thought I knew the story based on a jumble of movie clips and cultural references.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was wrong and that Shelley's novel provokes questions about loneliness and personal responsibility.  We also have Shelley's book here in the library.  Both are challenging reads, so I would recommend them for 8th graders and 7th graders who are strong readers.

This Dark Endeavor was also named as part of the 2012-2013 Lone Star List!