In Flaners Field

In Flanders Fields
Lt.Col. John McRae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That marks our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

My comments: There are endless tales about the war, and some of them had made it through times into textbooks, chronicles, and our heart. In Flanders fields is one of them. Not just the beauty of the poem, its background story was one of the finest illustrations about World War I. Liutenant Colonel John McRae, having known the war like the back of his palm, was terribly shaken by the dead of his friend and disciple, Lt. Alexis Helmer to the point that he replaced the chaplain to perform Alexis’ funeral. Short times after McRae produced this poem, but if not for another officer who stumbled upon this poem (McRae’s personal opinion of his work was ‘rubbish’, that it couldn’t depict the actual situations of the war), it wouldn’t make it to this day. Not so many soldiers, especially those who ranked high as McRae have heart soft enough for poetry. He was one of the jewels we had back in the war. In Flanders fields touch me a lot. The second stanza in particular, show us that the soldiers were the same human as us today, save for the fact they have less options for their actions.

Little Women

Little Women
Author: Louisa May Alcott

Summary: The March household is the home of four cheerful teenage girls. The eldest Meg, a girl in the step to her womanhood, the second Jo, a tomboyish girl who loves to write, timid,sickly Beth, the third, and the last, little girl at her fullest, Amy. Together they fight the obstacles in life, from poverty, war, and adulthood, to win their ‘pilgrimage’.

My comments: A great, great classic! Must read. The pilgrimage metaphore enhance the feelings of the story, and gives you more to imagine. Though halfway towards ending the story seems a bit off pace, The four’s effort to challenge adulthood while knitting their own story will enchant you for hours, and won’t leave your heart after. Prepare to laugh and cry along with the Marches.

The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Great Gilly Hopkins Author: Katherine Paterson

Summary: Gilly is a little girl that is far from the word ‘nice’. Actually, she is thrown from one foster home to another because they can’t bear her attitude. The only wish she has is for someday, if she caused enough trouble, maybe they would send her back to her mother instead of next adopter.

However, her wounded heart finds solace in a home resided with ‘weird’ bunch of people calling themselves family. An annoyingly caring woman, a timid, fearsome boy, and a blind negro who is their neighbor but regularly come for dinner. Now, Gilly is desperate of what she really wants. The love she never receives, or the love she finally stumbles on…

My Comments: What do you think? Katherine Paterson’s writing style never dissapoint me. Gilly is vividly described, and you can actually understand the feelings of little girl yearning for family love.

For children’s novel, there are some parts that may be hard to understand. Parents could accompany their child while reading, and explaining a few things they need to know, and join in their pleasure.

The biggest flaw in this novel to me is its open ended ending feels somewhat anticlimatic.

Bridge to Terabithia

Author: Katherine Paterson

Summary: Jeese Aarons, ordinary fifth graders whose only dream is winning the race held every recess, meets an unpredicted turn in his life when a girl moved in to an abandoned old field beside his family’s. Snatching his glory in the race track, and from other boys in school, he grows dislike to Leslie Burke, the new girl. Upon finding her social life isn’t as perfect as her all-around talents (as every girl envied her), and an incident between them, their relationship begins to get better. Then one day, Leslie brings him to Terabithia...

My Comments: Having adapted to movies and such, you must expect so much from this book. You’re not mistaken. Bridge to Terabithia offers you an interesting development of Jeese, from a timid boy to a full fledged king of Terabithia, cute feelings of first love, a journey of searching one’s true self and the tragic reality of life. Imagination isn’t just an ordinary skill. It shapes your life. Unexpected ending of the story, once again emphasizing its difference from many other books on the same theme. Must read.

The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn

Author: Charles Dickens

Summary: Sequel of Dickens’ Tom Sawyer, focusing on his friend Huckleberry Finn. After leading a prosperous life in a loving old widow’s home, Huck yearns for his stray cat’s way of living. He hates linen, school, church, and his ‘home’. Often he sleeps outside at night, unbeknownst to the old widow. When his father comes and forcefully wants him (and his treasures) back, he sets up a plan to fake his death, backfiring his cunning father’s own agenda, so he could run for his freedom…which lead to more danger than he ever imagine.

My Comments: Though I do enjoy the story, there’s some part, mostly of Huck’s meaning of freedom, that can be easily misinterpreted by young readers. I advice this story to preteens and teens who enjoys adventure tales, and have grown more sense of life.

The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Paperback Edition: 1991, Worthington Press
288 pages, 27 chapters

Summary: Ever wonder what happened when a pompous, snobbish, self-destruct girl get moved into a grand mansion located in the middle of the moor? Being a so-cross girl Mary Lennox never has anything,or rather anyone, to be considered friend. Even her own parents cast her away from their life. While solving mysteries enveloped the mansion and the secret garden said to be hidden within, she began to grow, to understand more and more about life outside her palace.

My Comments: I always love self-finding story. Unique characterizations, varying from Mistress Mary ‘Quite Contary’, Martha and her broad Yorkshire accent(Grab this book if you’re interested in some Yorkshire), Animal charmer Dickon (which is my favorite character in this book), Ben Weatherstaff’s loyalty to his late mistress, to hypochondriac Colin. Mary and Colin’s progresses of learning that they can be anything they believe of, helped by Martha and Dickon, are wonderful. I can imagine myself run around the moor and the garden, singing Colin’s chant that begins to grow on me:

”The magic is in me-the magic is in me. It is in me-it is in me. It’s in every one of us.”