This
month, I've been doing the Blogging from A
to Z Challenge. My theme: authors whose work I read when I was
younger.
"I am a former child, and I haven't forgotten a thing." -Ursula Nordstrom
"I am a former child, and I haven't forgotten a thing." -Ursula Nordstrom
Ursula Nordsrom's THE SECRET LANGUAGE (HarperTrophy, MG) is probably one of the first
older girl books I've read. My sister owned a used copy of the book. I was around second grade when I borrowed it to read and was thrilled I was reading a book with chapters. THE SECRET LANGUAGE is a book
about a girl named Victoria who is sent away to live in a boarding school. A
homesick Victoria befriends Martha, who teaches her a secret language where
phrases like "leebossa" means great and "ickenspick" refers
to something silly.
Boarding school stories tend to fascinate me, possibly because I had a strict upbringing and didn't always feel I had the freedom to do the mischievous
things that children living in a boarding school could do, such as planning a
secret midnight feast, depicted in this book.
Have you read THE SECRET LANGUAGE? If you had a choice to
attend boarding school when you were a child, would you have chosen to go?
16 comments:
I have not read it. But am going to look for it. :) thanks,
Seena
#AtoZChallenge - U is for Ultrasound
I haven't read this either, but it sounds good.
Not read this one. Would I have gone? Nope. Wasn't so strict here haha
No secret language for me. I'm having enough trouble learning the Karen language.
Interesting concept though.
I loved boarding school books as a kid, particularly the Chalet School series although I can't remember who wrote them now
Debbie
Coming up with a secret language sounds like fun. My grandmother said she did that when she was a kid.
Ickenspick. I'm going to confuse someone with that word today.
The cover is charming- no I never wanted to go to boarding school
The cover is charming- no I never wanted to go to boarding school
I LOVED this book, though I only remember bits and pieces of it now. I read it around the same time I read and loved the work of Carol Ryrie Brink and Natalie Savage Carlson.
I think this may have been the only book Ursula Nordstrom wrote, but she was also a great editor who really transformed the world of children's literature. She nurtured writers and illustrators like Maurice Sendak and Louise Fitzhugh.
Not read the book but I did go to boarding school in the UK. We had midnight feasts now and again but the staff were hot on the heels of any of us who tried to do so. It's where I learned to prefer Heinz Baked Beans cold. Couldn't heat them after all.
No, I didn't read this one. I don't know if I'd have wanted to go to boarding school. I was a timid child, and boarding school would have destroyed me.
Liz A. from Laws of Gravity
What a great theme! I haven't read this one, but it sounds like something I would have enjoyed as a kid.
Kids LOVE boarding school stories. I didn't really ever want to go to one, but I think kids are often drawn to the glamour of living somewhere else. Although I did think it seemed neat to be in a boarding school like the one the girls on Facts of Life were in!
I haven't read this one, either~ I don't think I would have liked boarding school~ Perhaps I will read the book and decide.
Lol @ Alex :) This sounds like a book I would have enjoyed, although given the choice, I would never have wanted to leave my family. I was way too shy.
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