The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

I had never really even considered reading this book, but I kept running across it on "best classics" lists every once in a while and I finally checked it out and listened to it. Much of the book is extremely close to the movie, which everyone has seen and knows by heart, although there's a whole section of the book after the wizard goes up in the balloon and Dorothy has to go find Glinda on her own. This extra section was random and didn't really add that much to the the overall story by any means, so I see why they cut it out of the movie. I didn't really love this book, to be honest, although I think it might be a fun one to read to kids (since it is a children's book, so that's fair). It didn't really have much in the way of character development or even suspense, because each scene was so short and nothing was drawn out or surprising. Even when Dorothy melts the Wicked Witch it literally just randomly happens one day and Dorothy says, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" But it did make me want to watch the movie again.

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

This book was fantastic. I am always so impressed by people who can write about WWII and make it interesting (after so, so, SO many WWII books). This book is about Ada and Jamie, a few children who were evacuated from London during the Blitz and their experience for the first year of the war. Their evacuation was not typical and not terrible for them--they actually were leaving their abusive, neglectful mother and were placed with a woman who took great care of them and ended up loving them. Ada had a deformed foot which meant her mother forced her to stay in their one-room apartment for her whole life without ever leaving, until she ran away to leave London with her brother Jamie. The book is really kind of her story of overcoming that abusive past and learning to trust Susan, their new guardian. I loved how you got to see into Ada's head and to understand how she was thinking, especially when she couldn't say what was bothering her or what she was thinking. You got a really good sense of how traumatized kids might feel and act because of their fear and how they've been sensitized to their surroundings. It was so sad, but also hopeful, to see the small bits of progress Ada makes over the year she stays with Susan. The climax of the book was a nail-biter, and I loved how it ended. This is definitely a chapter book I would want to have on my shelves later on.

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer

I love Heyer's books and am always happy to read more of them. I downloaded several to the Kindles in case we had some down time to read while on our trip and I was able to read this one. Sir Richard Wyndham is about to enter into a terrible marriage of convenience when he accidentally stumbles across a girl, Penelope Creed, running away from her home by climbing out the window, and he decides to help her run away by going with her. While they run away, they end up getting entangled in all sorts of problems like being slipped some stolen jewels and being the witnesses to a murder, and while all these things are happening, Wyndham falls in love with Penelope and she with him. The end.

This book seemed highly unlikely to me--I was pretty unable to stretch my imagination far enough to believe that all of the random occurrences in this book could actually happen. But it was still a fun, quick read. It seemed a whole heck of a lot like Frederica, where a hardened, not-interested rich man is incapable of admiring the quirky qualities of the girl and eventually falls in love with her against his will. Except that Frederica is a whole lot better and more believable. Not Heyer's best, but it was still a fun, quick read.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

This book is basically a sister to Ella Enchanted in my mind, except that I didn't read it when I was young so I don't love it like I do Ella Enchanted. It's very similar--set in a faraway land, about a determined, young girl who is going to meet the prince, etc. This book is about Miri, who lives in a tiny rural mining community with her family, far away from the rest of the world, until the soothsayers announce that the prince's new bride will come from their little town. So they set up an academy to teach the girls in the town everything they will need to know, and the girls have to learn to get along with each other and how to become like a princess.

I think this would have been a definite favorite for me if I'd read it when I was the right age for it. As it was, I still liked it, but there were definitely some annoying parts (like when Miri is way too outspoken and annoying). But it was very sweet at the same time. I would definitely like to own this for my bookshelf once Lucy is old enough to read it--and its sequels.

The Mystery in San Francisco by Gertrude Chandler Warner

I started reading this out loud to the kids before our trip because we were going to San Francisco and I wanted them to be able to picture the places we were about to visit. I only managed to get through the first two or three chapters before our trip, but we read the rest of it in the car while driving around SF and in the Sequoias. This is definitely not the best Boxcar Children book, with the terrible twist of a surprise identical twin helping to answer who was doing what at the end, but it was perfect for our purposes--they go to Chinatown, go on the Golden Gate Bridge and down Lombard Street and to Fisherman's Wharf, they ride on a cable car, and I just wanted to get the kids excited for doing all of those things. It was great. And Dane loved it, so it was fine.

Frindle by Andrew Clements

I absolutely loved this book as a kid, and have fond memories of reading it when I was younger. This was another audiobook that we listened to on our drive in California, after we finished all the Ramona books I had brought with us. For anyone who hasn't read it, it's about a boy named Nick who makes up a new word for "pen" by calling it "frindle," and the word takes off. I thought this one might be a little too complex for Dane, but since we ran out of other audiobooks I figured we might as well. And oh my goodness. It was such a hit. Dane absorbed every word and was fascinated by it. I thought he wouldn't understand it, but he did. There is a small scene at the beginning of the book when Nick pretends he is a blackbird warning other blackbirds of a dangerous hawk by "peep"ing super loud in his classroom, and Dane spent the rest of the weekend going "peep!" And Dane has now, as of today, made up his own word for pen instead of frindle: "soro." We'll see if it makes it to the dictionary.

I loved listening to this too, by the way. I wouldn't have chosen this, perhaps, but the CD audiobook collection at the library for kids was slim pickin's so I grabbed it and I'm glad I did. The ending was so sweet and happy and I just loved the whole thing.

Ramona and her Father and Ramona Quimby, age 8 by Beverly Cleary

I had the brilliant brainwave of getting some Ramona books on audiobook for us to listen to on our trip in California, and it was such a lifesaver. We spent a lot of time in the car, driving into San Francisco and then to Fresno and Visalia and to and around the national parks, and our kids only played on the tablets for maybe 45 minutes of all of that time. They were so happy listening to these books that whole time. I don't know that Graham was really listening or if he understood anything, but he kept asking for us to put "Wamona" on, and Dane was riveted to every word. These are the fourth and sixth books in the Ramona series--I didn't realize that Ramona and her Mother came in between (but I also didn't want to read that one since it was a lot about her parents fighting and the girls wondering if they were going to get divorced. A little too heavy for our five- and three-year-olds.). I love so many episodes in these books--Tommy and I were enjoying listening to them too--like when Ramona and Beezus try to stop her dad from smoking by putting signs all around their house, and when Ramona cracks an egg in her hair. That was something that stuck with me for years--I always remembered that! Anyways, these were such a wonderful part of our trip, I only wish I had brought more with us! (We also listened to Ramona the Brave first, but since I'd already read that with Dane I'm not writing about it.)