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Children's Corner
Books
Reviews
Bob Hoover
Children's Corner
Rediscover some of the underappreciated children's classics of the past

Tuesday, May 30, 2000

By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Most weeks, this column spotlights the best in new children's books. Every once in a while, however, it's good to take a step back and rediscover some of the underappreciated classics of the past. It's a bit like finding buried treasure.

Two such treasures are "Thimble Summer" by Elizabeth Enright (Dell, $4.50) and "Meet the Austins" by Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16). "Thimble Summer" won a Newbery Medal, the most prestigious children's book award, while "Meet the Austins" successfully challenged a publishing taboo.

"Thimble Summer" was written and illustrated by Enright and won the Newbery in 1939. It's a slim volume, but it overflows with an entertaining story and characters that are realistically drawn and emotionally appealing.

The story revolves around Garnet Linden, a lively, strong-willed 9-year-old girl who lives on a Wisconsin farm in the 1930s. As the story opens, Garnet, like the landscape around her, is feeling parched by a lengthy summertime drought that has brought tough times to the Linden farm.

Then Garnet finds a beautiful silver thimble in the sand by the river. Thrilled to have such a lovely item, Garnet is even more excited to see how her family's luck changes after she finds it.

That very night, the skies open up and it pours. The rain continues for some days, resurrecting the withered crops and saving the Lindens' farm from possible foreclosure. Soon, Garnet's father receives a government grant for a much-needed new barn.

The lucky streak continues when a spunky, hardworking teen-age orphan named Eric joins the Linden family, providing a new sibling for Garnet. Although she's got an older brother and a younger brother, Garnet enjoys the different sibling relationship she can have with Eric.

Garnet firmly believes that the thimble is the source of her family's changed fortunes. Although her brother Jay scoffs at the idea, Eric seems to understand when Garnet declares at the end of the book: "Everything has happened since I found it, and all nice things! As long as I live I'm always going to call this summer the thimble summer."

Despite Garnet's belief in the thimble's magical powers, "Thimble Summer" isn't a book about a "Harry Potter" kind of wizardry. Instead, Enright shows that it is mostly the hard work and cheerful optimism of Garnet and her family that sparks their good luck. There's no heavy moral here, however; Enright is too good a writer for that.

Readers who enjoy Garnet Linden's company will also be drawn to 12-year-old Vicky Austin, the heroine of "Meet the Austins." Like Garnet, Vicky is an immensely likable character who's got both pluck and a fierce love of her family.

Unlike Garnet, however, Vicky is just at the onset of the teen years. She is filled with insecurities about herself, from how her more straightforward good looks compare with her younger sister's easy blond beauty to the way she just can't seem to master the math that her brother finds such a breeze.

Vicky finds herself with even more questions about her own place in her family as the Austins take in an obnoxious, spoiled young girl named Maggy Hamilton. Maggy has been suddenly orphaned, and Vicky's parents have agreed to take care of her until plans can be made for her future.

Despite their best efforts, the Austins (who also include Vicky's baby brother, Rob) find their patience sorely tried by Maggy's blatant bids for attention and her willful disobedience, both of which are fueled by grief over her parents' death and her deep insecurity about her future.

First published in 1960, "Meet the Austins" was rejected by numerous publishers because it opens with the death of Maggy's father (her mother had died when she was born). But L'Engle insisted that death should not be a taboo topic for young people, who are willing to ask the "big picture" questions about life and death that their parents often refuse to acknowledge.

amazon.comBuy these books at amazon.com

Thimble Summer

Meet the Austins

Past Reviews



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