The Great Quest, by Charles Boardman Hawes

Joe is a young man of indefinite age (I'm going to say about 17, although I don't think the book ever explicitly states). Both of his parents have passed away, leaving him in the care of his Uncle Seth Upham. Mr. Upham keeps his store in Topham, Massachusetts, and is very well-regarded in the community.

One day, an old resident of the town, Neal Gleazen, returns after having left decades prior under very unfavorable circumstances. He was known formerly as a man of bad reputation who had kept bad company, but he seems to be making a sincere effort to change the townspeople's perceptions of him. Over time he eventually wins them over, and simultaneously begins to exert an odd control over Mr. Upham, eventually convincing him to sell all of his assets (including store, property, and land) an invest in a ship with Mr. Gleazen. Mr. Gleazen claims to be aware of a fabulous business opportunity on the African coast which will make all involved very rich. However, the day of their departure is hastened as Mr. Gleazen becomes drunk, reverts to the behavior for which he was previously known, and stabs a barkeep. He, Upham, Joe, and associates must all flee the city in disgrace.

Over time, the crew of the ship are replaced by new men Gleazen brings on board and knows well from prior dealings. There are also rumors and whispers, as well as supporting evidence, that Gleazen's investment opportunity is not gold or investments or crops, but the slave trade.

Sounds like a fascinating set-up for an adventuresome book, doesn't it? The following paragraphs take many, many dreary pages to play out in the book itself.

Alas, the book begins to decline in quality at this point (perhaps the author hadn't really thought through the remainder of the book). In any case, the ship goes ashore but the natives were expecting them. The resident missionary attempts to intervene and is killed by the natives. Attempting to find the residence of Gleazen's on-shore associate, they find him dead in his chair and are completely surrounded. The resulting stand-off results in the death of Mr. Upham (who had gone mad by this point and had wandered into the line of fire). The remainder of the group manages to escape (with the missionary's newly-orphaned daughter and black servant).

Finally, Joe and those loyal to Mr. Upham manage to take control of the ship and force it from its mission of slavery. They are eventually shipwrecked on the coast of South America. Joe proposes to the missionary's daughter (which makes so little sense in the context of the book and Joe's own descriptions of and thoughts about her!) and he acquires just enough money to get them both back to Topham.

Upon their arrival, they learn that Mr. Upham had left a small sum which was willed to Joe. Upon retrieving it from the bank, the new couple has just enough money to purchase back Mr. Upham's old store and build a home. The end.

Excellent first half, horrible second half. Such a pity.

Cedric the Forester, by Bernard Marshall

This book takes place in Olde England (although not so jolly, perhaps!). Our main character, despite the title, is Dickon, a young man who lives with his father in an estate named Mountjoy. This is a time of great upheaval for the men of the region; many of them have recently traveled to fight in the Crusades, and are often called upon to follow the King into battle against the Scots or the Welsh. Additionally, the various estates are often at war against each other for land, and robbers abound in the forests to rob a man of his horse or cash.

Our narrator first encounters Cedric in the woods when he is attacked in the woods by a member of a rival family. Cedric quickly eliminates the problem by putting an arrow squarely through the opponent's forehead. Although the book doesn't linger on gore, it certainly doesn't gloss over the action, either! Dickon brings Cedric back to his home and introduces him to his father, who recognizes Cedric as not only formidable with a crossbow, but also a fellow of good character despite his lack of education. The Mountjoy family welcomes him into their home as Dickon's squire and promises to help him hone his skills.

For a while I had trouble figuring out the story arc of the book- after Dickon and Cedric meet, the plot seems to be a series of more or less disconnected incidents spread out over time. However, at the end of the book it becomes clear that these skirmishes and personal conflicts further build Cedric's resolve and character. He and Dickon have both been knighted for their skill and loyalty by the end of the book, and Cedric is instrumental for forcing through some of the pivotal language in the Magna Carta which guarantees basic civil liberties for free citizens of England.

It's hard for me to give this one a score. It's definitely a boy book. But those boys who are interested in battle and Robin Hood-ish stories will love this one. So for those kinds of kids, it's a great fit!

Incidentally, this book is among the hardest of the Newberries to acquire- it's rare, was never reprinted, and very few libraries have it in their circulating collections. Being a librarian has its advantages- I scanned all of the pages of the copy I was able to borrow and am in the process of digitizing it for access at Project Gutenberg's site (a collection of public domain documents and books). Look for it reasonably soon!

The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon

Well, this book was certainly an undertaking. When I picked up our library's copy and flipped through it (all 610 pages of the updated 1984 edition) my immediate thought was "This thing is a MONSTER! What were they thinking?". However, the Newbery committee wasn't entirely as insane as I'd thought at first glance.

The purpose of this book is to follow mankind from its initial evolution as a species through the modern era (well, what was modern at the time). And I have to say that the book does a fabulous job. It can by no means be taken as textbook truth, as van Loon uses a bit of humor, irony, and glossing over of major issues to make it more readable. But overall the tone is kept very conversational, and this goes an incredibly long way toward making what could be the most boring book ever written into something very approachable, once you get over your initial impressions. Additionally, the chapters are, for the most part, reasonably short, which keeps the reader from becoming bored or overwhelmed (especially because each chapter can be taken individually- the prior chapter's contents don't have to be memorized for the following section to make sense). This book was certainly a masterpiece of children's literature in its day. Because of available knowledge and culture at the time the book was written I've tried to not be too harsh about the details.

However, from a more modern viewpoint, this book is almost unforgiveably "Euro-centric", as if the remainder of the world (with the exception of America from the colonial period onward) contributed nothing of use to the common era. Asia (Russia excepted) is omitted almost entirely, with the exception of a brief chapter about Buddha and Confucius. Africa and South America are also mentioned only as lands to be conquered by the various European powers. Van Loon also presumes to discuss the First World War ("Great War") without ever introducing the Austro-Hungarian empire (well, they only owned most of the continent; they couldn't have been that important).

Speaking of his own work, van Loon states:
There was but one rule. "Did the country or the person in question produce a new idea or perform an original act without which the history of the entire human race would have been different?" It was not a question of personal taste. It was a matter of cool, almost mathematical judgment. No race ever played a more picturesque role in history than the Mongolians, and no race, from the point of view of achievement or intelligent progress, was of less value to the rest of mankind.

Well, then.

So my opinion must be twofold. For its day, definitely an achievement! For modern times, a bit out of touch with current science and social graces.

The Windy Hill, by Cornelia Meigs

Oliver and his sister Janet, both young teens, have been sent for the Summer to visit their cousin Jasper on his large estate in the country. As the book starts off, Oliver is walking into town to catch the train. Jasper has arranged for him to meet his cousin Eleanor, and he has decided with a name like that, she must be a stern, disapproving, boring girl and he isn't willing to submit to the introduction. On his way there, he comes across a man tending beehives (who he names "the Beeman") and his daughter Polly. He stops briefly to assist, and is rewarded with a story. Oliver becomes so entranced by this tale of the region's ancient Indian inhabitants that by the time he comes out of his reverie, he's missed his train and must return to the estate.

Janet is frustrated with her brother's rudeness, but can't help but sympathize. Cousin Jasper has hardly been a good host. He's sullen and withdrawn, and mostly leaves the two siblings to their own devices. Oliver tells Janet about the Beeman and his stories, and hopes to bring her back there to visit and hear the stories for herself.

On a subsequent visit, the cousins come across Anthony Crawford, a rude and angry man who also lives on the property. He tells Oliver that he lives just on the other side of Jasper's garden wall, and hints at an unsettled debt between himself and Cousin Jasper. Out of curiosity, Oliver peeks over the garden wall and sees what was once a lovely house, but now in horrible disrepair. It's revealed at about this time that Crawford is trying to extort something from Jasper, which is the cause of his moodiness and anxiety.

Oliver and Janet continue to visit the Beeman and Polly and listen to stories about the settlers of the area centered around "The Windy Hill" where they live- a place where the wind rustles the leaves of the trees, even when the air is still elsewhere in the valley. The hill also provides a great view of a manmade lake, which is separated from the valley by a dyke to allow the tenant farmers access to the fertile land. However, there are concerns that the walls are falling into disrepair. Eventually, Crawford turns out a tenant farmer on his property for being slightly behind in his rent, which precipitates a chain of events.

As Crawford continues to threaten Jasper, a wild rainstorm enters the valley. Concerned for the integrity of the dyke, Oliver and Janet rush out to see that it is failing, and the tenant farmer is no longer there to ensure its safety. Crawford, realizing the gravity of the situation, comes to Jasper because he has nowhere else to turn. We learn at this time (although really, it was a surprise only to Oliver and not the reader by now) that the Beeman and Polly are actually Oliver's relatives (Polly being the dreaded Eleanor). The Beeman's stories are actually true tales of their ancestors, and Crawford, being marginally related and aware of Jasper's weaknesses, had taken advantage of their relation to try to extort property and valuable family heirlooms. Of course, he turns over a new leaf and vows to become a better man if they can just fix the dyke, which they do, and live happily ever after as a functional and healthy family. Or something.

Wow, talk about pat endings. Ridiculously pat. Also, it seems a rather quick change of heart for Anthony Crawford, who has established himself as a complete jerk for the first 95% of the book. Additionally, these stories of the Beeman's, while captivating to Oliver and Janet, frankly bored me stiff, and went on for tens of pages. With no context for those stories, the plots of which played very little role in the main story, they were painful and distracting. I had to try this one three times to finish it and found it difficult each time. Totally skip this one.

I see that a few years later, this same author has another Newbery Honor book. Good gracious, I don't relish the thought of trying that one out!

Full text available from Project Gutenberg here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26537/26537-8.txt

The Old Tobacco Shop, by William Bowen

I found this book a bit confusing, to say the least! The main character is Freddie, whose age is never given, but he's only just begun to not call himself "Fweddie". In the illustrations he's very feminine looking with his bushy hair, full lips, and foofy Eton suit! In any case, Freddie is sent to the tobacco shop in his new neighborhood to pick up some pipe tobacco for his father. The shop is run by Toby, who lives in the building with his Aunt Amanda, an old maid who mostly sews in her rocking chair and, perplexingly to Freddie, always seems to have a collection of pins in her mouth. Toby fills Freddie's head with tales filled with strange characters, the most noteworthy one concerning the "Chinaman's head" which sits on the shelf with the other various samples of tobacco. Freddie is told that it contains a very special tobacco and that it must never be touched!

Of course, Freddie finds himself alone in the shop and lights up. He's not a smoker, mind you, he just wants to try out that mysterious Chinese tobacco! The lighting of the tobacco summons a sailor fresh off the seas, who is very annoyed to have been summoned with no purpose. He leaves a treasure map with Freddie and then departs, and Freddie then has to 'fess up, to get help following it! Toby isn't especially concerned and is more excited. He shares the information with Aunt Amanda, and they summon the sailor (Lemuel Mizzen) back to take them aboard his ship along with a cast of colorful characters from the neighborhood and his stories (including the Churchwarden, Mr. Hanlon who is kind of a mime/harlequin who runs a children's circus of sorts, and a Sly Old Codger).

Their ship, the Sieve, is eventually sunk by the cabin boy out of revenge for Mizzen's parrot constantly mocking his stutter, and the group is separated into two, adrift on rafts of mattresses. They encounter pirates and eventually find their way to the island on the map where their dreams come true. . . but it isn't home.

Who on earth was the audience for this book? The protagonist can't be more than six, but no six year old with stick with the entirety of this book (all 241 pages of it). It's completely fun, but Freddie is a bit too young to be of interest to older children. Fortunately other characters have their fair share of the action. Monty Python could have made a decent film from this, I think, because it has a lot of one-liners and wordplay that's done seriously. Not an especially memorable book, though, I think. Perhaps it was original in its day. Overall, I found it a rather lukewarm book. It should have been about half as long.

Best quote:
The Churchwarden started, and put his hand to his back pocket. "Are you as old as that?" said he.
"No older no what you be, old fat-chaps," said Speak. "You attend to your own age, and I'll attend to mine."

Full text is available at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26977/26977-h/26977-h.htm

The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived before Achilles, by Padraic Colum

I was not one of those kids who had a fascination with mythology, so I have to admit that I approached this one with a little dread. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The book tells the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, which I had been completely unfamiliar with. It starts with his birth and upbringing by the centaur Chiron, and continues as he assembles his crew and boards the Argo on a mission to steal the fabled golden fleece from Colchis. He is frequently waylaid by natural barriers, gods, and mythical creatures.

Throughout the story, the members of the crew and the people they encounter often tell stories of the gods, and under ordinary circumstances I'd find these frequent stories-within-a-story distracting. But in this book, they actually worked. Despite all the foreign names in the text, I didn't have a problem remembering who the main cast members were and what they were up to at the end of their storytelling. And although there are a lot of characters, they are introduced in a reasonably slow and orderly manner which reduced confusion for me. The storytelling is also simple and doesn't get weighed down in lengthy description, so I found it a light and easy read despite the length (289 pages in my library's edition).

The copy we have in our library is the 21st edition of this book from 1960, and it speaks well for the writing that the same book was being reprinted and enjoyed so long after its original publication date (amazon.com lists a 2004 paperback edition).

So, on Melanie's ratings scale, it's a perfect choice for those kids who love mythology or are curious and would like an introduction. Instead of being a volume of short myth summaries, it combines them all well into a great story.