What I've read this summer . . . Vol. 3 (FINALLY!)
Eight Cousins - Louisa May Alcott

As you can see, I finally got my most recent book finished and it was Eight Cousins by LMA. When I took my kids to the library at the beginning of the summer, I had the overwhelming urge to check out one of my all time favorite authors.

One of my favorite memories was walking the 30-40 minute trip to my local library when I was around 10 to 12 years old. I discovered all sorts of great authors, but one stuck out in my mind the most, Louisa May Alcott.

Looking though the different areas in the children's section at my local library, I came across the book Eight Cousins which I believe is one of the few books of hers I had never read. So naturally, that's what I picked.

Unfortunately with everything going on with GS Camp, in addition to the language issue I mentioned earlier, it took me A LOT longer then I expected to read it, but here's what I thought:

The book itself is very sweet. I really enjoyed the transformation of the main character, Rose, but found her uncle to be quite an interesting character as well.

One of the things I found interesting, is that one of the major rules that has been pounded into my head these past four years, is the concept of point of view and staying strictly within the confines of the main character (ie; the entire story is told through that one character's point of view).

However, in this book, the POV includes all the characters and their feelings and expressions (I"m spacing out on the specific word for it). Interestingly enough, I didn't find it confusing, and it made me wish I could find a way to use it in my writing.

Anyway, for a MG novel, it was a fun read . . . not necessarily PC (if you find her descriptions regarding the 'chinamen' in the book you'll know what I mean), but if you read it in the context of when it was published (around 1860) it could be overlooked.

I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Rose in Bloom, but not until I read some other books this summer.

Happy Reading! :)