Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key

I read this book on a whim, mostly surprised to learn that there was a book before either of the movies were made. I, like most children of the 80s, saw Disney’s 1975 Escape to Witch Mountain multiple times when I was growing up. A childhood favorite. I saw the 2009 Race to Witch Mountain with my own children. When I learned that there was a book, I had to read it. Just to see which movie was more true to the book, and to see how the original story was told.

Not surprisingly, I really enjoyed the book. I read it in an afternoon when not feeling well, so didn’t have anything to really interrupt me. The story is closer to the 1975 movie, but there are huge changes (nothing surprising about that considering Hollywood’s record in movie adaptations). Most notably, Tony and Tia are in the foster care system in the book, Tia can’t speak (kind of), and Jason O’Day is a pastor the children are already familiar with.

The book is a fast-paced read, which is great for younger readers that aren’t interested in loads of detailed imagery. I think my kids will really enjoy having this read aloud to them during family reading time. I’m glad I bought it, instead of just borrowing it from the library. There is some environmentalism in it, but it’s not heavy handed and doesn’t detract from the story. I whole-heartedly recommend this to parents looking for a fun science fiction story for their children. It’s very clean, no profanity, very little violence, lots of cute animals. Kids will enjoy it, as will most adults.

Stuart Little

Stuart Little by E.B. White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

We just finished this book as a family. The story is written very clearly, so that the children were able to make pictures of what was happening easily in their heads. They enjoyed the adventures that Stuart went on, but couldn't get over the fact that it was just 'weird' for a human to have a mouse for a baby. They also didn't like the ending much, as it was our first introduction as a family to open-ended stories. They argued a bit afterwards about what have must happened, until I convinced them that could have their own individual ideas of what happens. I think this book might appeal to boys more than girls, as my girls thought some of the things Stuart does are just odd. They also didn't like how often we were introduced to a new character and then have them disappear just as we were starting to really get interested in them.

Over all, a good book. Probably one we will read again when our babies are old enough to listen.

Silas Marner

Silas Marner (Dover Thrift Editions) by George Eliot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a book assigned to me to read in grade or high school. Unfortunately, I faked my way through it and never actually read the book. But when I heard how much the other students enjoyed it, I always had a bit of regret about not reading it. So I’ve finally read it.

This is the story of Silas Marner, the wronged man that becomes a lonely miser and how he is brought back to a world of love and interaction with others. There are several other themes running alongside the main story of regret, how past wrongs cannot always be corrected, letting the past go, etc.

I have to say, I am really fond of the story. It was uplifting, with a good message. But it only rates 4 stars because I found the dialogue to be frustrating. Eliot’s descriptions and narratives are gorgeous, with beautiful lines like “Perfect love has a breath of poetry which can exalt the relations of the least-instructed human beings”. But this is offset by Eliot’s need to give the characters strong accents that he renders into the characters’ dialogues phonetically using nonstandard spellings. I found it very distracting. Often I felt like I was trying to translate a foreign language instead of simply absorbing a beautiful tale. Besides the frustrating dialects, I greatly enjoyed the writing and story.


Kindle Edition: Silas Marner