Blue Ruin
If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me. - Dorothy Parker
January 06, 2007
Least Favorite Books From Middle School
1. Summer of My German Soldier - A young Jewish girl lives in a small town in Texas during World War II. The military sets up a POW camp in the town and brings in a bunch of captured German soldiers. The girl befriends one of them, somehow, I don't remember. He escapes from the camp and she hides him in her attic. She secretly brings him food and other supplies, and they fall in love. I can't really believe I just typed that. Everything else about the book is pretty depressing: she has no friends and her parents physically and verbally abuse her. Oh, and the soldier gets killed halfway through the book, so there's not much plot left for the second half. I heard that in the sequel, she goes to Germany to look for his family with the hope that they will be a more loving replacement for her own abusive family. Doesn't that warm your heart?
2. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - This book was scary. Not because of the witch, but because of the Puritans. I don't remember too many details of this book - I read it in fifth grade and I remember that it was incredibly long with very small print and one of the only books that was a real drag for me to read at that age. It takes place in 17th century colonial New England. The main character is a girl who has abruptly moved from the Carribbean to live with some Puritan relatives in New England. She has a hard time adjusting to the grim life of a Puritan, which basically consists of chores, going to church for hours on end, and more chores. She's not allowed to sing, dance, play games, wear pretty clothes, make pretty clothes, or really anything other than chores and prayer. Naturally, she's bored as fuck, so she starts hanging out with this peace-loving Quaker lady who lives on the edge of town. There is talk in the town of the Quaker lady being a witch. Obviously she must be; she's the only one around who is not an obsessive-compulsive. I don't remember the end of this book either. I just remember being scared of what the Puritans would do to someone who broke one of their draconian rules. Puritans Gone Wild. Now that would be some freaky footage. Girls from around New England drink tea with lots of sugar, take off their bonnets in public and sing Mary Had a Little Lamb. The really crazy ones, the ones who didn't grow up with strong parental role models, find a bouncy ball and play four square.
2. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - This book was scary. Not because of the witch, but because of the Puritans. I don't remember too many details of this book - I read it in fifth grade and I remember that it was incredibly long with very small print and one of the only books that was a real drag for me to read at that age. It takes place in 17th century colonial New England. The main character is a girl who has abruptly moved from the Carribbean to live with some Puritan relatives in New England. She has a hard time adjusting to the grim life of a Puritan, which basically consists of chores, going to church for hours on end, and more chores. She's not allowed to sing, dance, play games, wear pretty clothes, make pretty clothes, or really anything other than chores and prayer. Naturally, she's bored as fuck, so she starts hanging out with this peace-loving Quaker lady who lives on the edge of town. There is talk in the town of the Quaker lady being a witch. Obviously she must be; she's the only one around who is not an obsessive-compulsive. I don't remember the end of this book either. I just remember being scared of what the Puritans would do to someone who broke one of their draconian rules. Puritans Gone Wild. Now that would be some freaky footage. Girls from around New England drink tea with lots of sugar, take off their bonnets in public and sing Mary Had a Little Lamb. The really crazy ones, the ones who didn't grow up with strong parental role models, find a bouncy ball and play four square.
posted by Lux |
