A Season of Gifts

How would you like to meet your new neighbor while tied up hanging in her outhouse with nothing on?!? I listened to the audio book version, and the story was so engaging. It takes place in the 1950s as you can see from the old car on the cover of the book. The narrator is the fourteen year old son of a preacher whose family has just moved to a small town.  And their new neighbor happens to be Grandma Dowdel. You may know her from Peck's other novels. She is a hilarious, gritty, salt of the earth, independent older character who befriends the narrator's younger sister. I kept reading this book to see what she was going to do next! The book had a great message about gifts but I was so wrapped up in this story I didn't even notice until the end of the book.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling

This creative, outrageous and old time book written by Maryrose Wood may remind you of a Lemony Snicket book or maybe Anne of Green Gables. Miss Penelope Lumley, the governess of the Incorrigibles is not an ordinary woman. Discovered in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia has a bark that is worse than her bite; and Beowulf is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels. Each child is unique and a very fast learner for the fifteen year-old Penelope. This is the first book to The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, and we are introduced to the characters and the mysterious children raised by wolves, captured by a wealthy unloving couple and being civilized by the adorable Miss Lumley. I look forward to the next book in the series because the story isn't finished.