Magic In My Shoes by Constance Savery

[gilda_elise]

In the summer of 1766, Sally Pershore goes to visit her Aunt Persis in the country. Aunt Persis has recently moved, and Sally soon sees that things are not going woo in the new home. Three orphan boys, triplets, have been parceled out among the neighbors as was the custom of those days, and Any Persis has taken one.
But the boy, Josset Ormond, does not wish to stay with her; his heart is torn by the separation from the other two boys. His brothers have been put out to hard masters, and Josset feels he must be with them at all costs, so he tries to run away at every opportunity. Aunt Persis thinks to solve this problem by locking him in the attic. He escapes, but when brought back he thinks of a better plan.

I was about eight when I discovered this book. My mom would take us to the main library and we’d all go off to the area set aside for our age group. We would be there for hours.

I loved this book. I would return it after two weeks and, once it was back on the shelf, check it out again. I was enchanted by the idea of Sally’s adventures with the three boys, maybe because I often spent time with my four male cousins.

Of course I had a different reaction to the book this time; it’s definitely written for the young. And I don’t even know if an eight-year old of today would be taken by this story. I hope they would be. We were a more naive people, I think, but fine is still fine, and this is a fine book.






Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.

1. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
2. Polaris (Alex Benedict #2) by Jack McDevitt
3. How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
4. Mikhail Baryshnikov's Stories From My Childhood: Beloved Fairy Tales from the Queen to Cinderella by Mikhail Baryshnikov
5. The Fateful Lightning (Civil War: 1861-1865, Western Theater #4) by Jeff Shaara
6. Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
7. The Petticoat Men by Barbara Ewing
8. Lily Pond: Four Years with a Family of Beavers by Hope Ryden
9. Running with the Demon (The Word & The Void #1) by Terry Brooks
10. The Gentle Giants of Ganymede (Giants #2) by James P. Hogan
11. Ararat (Ben Walker #1) by Christopher Golden
12. If It Bleeds by Stephen King
13. American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant by Ronald C. White Jr.
14. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
15. Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell Adventurer, Adviser to Kings by Janet Wallach
16. Snowblind by Christopher Golden
17. Women of Ashdon (Bridges Over Time #3) by Valerie Anand
18. Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt
19. The Family Plot by Cherie Priest
20. The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa (translated by Nick Caistor)


21. Roses are White by Lesley Lambert
22. Giants' Star (Giants #3) by James P. Hogan
23. Duma Key by Stephen King
24. Magic In My Shoes by Constance Savery







2021 MONTHLY MOTIF READING CHALLENGE by girlxoxo



MAY- Magnificent Middle Grade. Read a Middle Grade book – a book that is marketed toward ages 8-14.

Magic in My Shoes by Constance Savery

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

I'd rather be a naive kid than a worldly one. Time enough to know the score when you grow up. :)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

That's certainly true. It seems such a same that so much of their childhood is lost when kids are exposed to hard reality too soon.

[bradygirl_12]

Do kids even have childhoods anymore?

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I imagine that some of them must, but nothing like what ours would have been. They're too much into social media and video games. Outside? What's that?

[bradygirl_12]

I remember being outside during the summer from after breakfast to bedtime. My sister and I would even eat lunch outside on the patio! :)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

That was the great thing about having summer vacation, three months of uninterrupted fun. Like you, we spent most of the day outside, only coming in for meals. And no one thought about being taken, even though statistics show that it isn't any more prevalent now than it was then.

[bradygirl_12]

We were outdoor nuts for sure! We ran around, played ball, played with our dolls (we used the Tubsy doll's tub for a swimming pool, heh), read, drew on big artist sketchpads, drove our bikes and pedal cars, and generally only watched TV while eating breakfast and before bedtime (okay. sometimes we'd sneak in for General Hospital because we liked nurses with caps). :D

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

My dad would allow only so much tv, so that probably helped make us outside kids.

Lol, I didn't start watching General Hospital until I was in high school.

[bradygirl_12]

Ha, I cut my teeth on that show! My mom was a fan from Day One. :)