Nancy and Plum
If the name Betty MacDonald sounds familiar, it’s because she is the author of the beloved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. This title, originally published in 1952, isn’t in that category, but it still has its own charm. Like characters in so many children’s books, Nancy and her sister, Plum, are orphans. Their only relative, Uncle John, doesn’t really know children, so he ships the girls off to Mrs. Monday’s Boarding Home for Children, a place where the girls get little to eat, nothing new to wear, and don’t even receive the few letters and gifts their uncle sends. But Nancy and Plum have spunk, and in the course of the story, they find a way to turn things around, though not without ruffling the feathers of Mrs. Monday and her annoying niece. Old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, this is a return to the stories of authors like Eleanor Estes and Elizabeth Enright. The plot sags in the middle, and there may be too much adult help for contemporary readers, but this has a sweetness to which kids will respond. Grades 3-5. --Ilene Cooper