I was not expecting to find such a flawed, three-dimensional cast and a sad grim tone in a short, children's book. I don't know why, really, since I've come across both of those separately often enough in them (Dark Materials, Little Princess) paired with the big questions too. Specially given the fact that I've been a heavy reader since my tweens, and a firm believer in that Cabal's quote "when I want to write something that I think adults will have trouble understanding, I write children books" (I'm paraphrasing, I don't have that good a memory, and she likely borrowed too).

Here is the deal: this was way dramatic than I expected. And when I say dramatic, I mean angst, grief, homesickness, the loneliness of being an outsider. Really sad. Also maddening.

It is maddening because human nature is maddening. And because everyone, MC included, are flawed people with some good qualities and reasonable ideals and opinions and stances, and some appallingly wrong mixed in, so even with the best intentions they rub the wrong way and clash, misunderstand, work at cross-purpose. And there is always a little bitch witch shit ready to hate.

It was an interesting read even before the context of publishing-time kicks in (though I suspect there were some interesting witch-hunt related things coming out then... wasn't The Crucible a contemporary of McCarthyism too?)

At any rate, it was a really good book (totally deserves those awards), and it ended all sweet, happy and neat.

Hey! I keep missing my read for making another bingo. At this point, I'm not even pretending to curve my mood-reading. (There is also the bit where there is no magic here, but I'll let the title excuse my being misled)

Huh...

This is shaping as quite the bleak thing for a children's book. My compliments to the author for not shying from serious issues.

Also, I'm having some flashbacks to The Little Princess.

Fills in the Set in New England square

I liked the story but hated the heroine, Kit. So many problems with her: impulsive, quick to anger, not smart enough to observe the new culture around her so that she could blend in, but the big one for me was her sense of entitlement which lead to more than a few sentences with her complaining of doing work that her servants used to do for her/her family(including the black slaves owned by herself and her grandfather) and how she was so broke she had to sell "her negro girl" just to pay for her transportation to her aunt's and uncle's home (unannounced). It was funny how all the Puritans were like "wait, what?" when she talked of her servants and I liked how Nat gave her quite the lecture on why him/his family has too much pride in their work and principles to venture into the slave trade. The story's plot was basically how witch hunts can happen in a small religious community.

Three bingos in less than a month! Hopefully I can keep the momentum going through October. And I renewed Dracula; I have a whooping 20 pages read so far. In addition to all this reading, I picked up season five of OUAT to binge watch this weekend and on Sunday I am co-hosting a baby shower for a friend.

This is what I have on tap for the last week of September:

1. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (New England square)

2. Parasite by Mira Grant (Creepy Crawlies)

3. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (Gothic square and buddy read for BL's Gothic book club)