1. 18 Washington Square South: A Comedy in One Act, 1944. Ms. L’Engle actually wrote several plays and was an actress herself before her marriage, but this is one of the few that appears in the bibliography at her website.
2. The Small Rain, 1945. Madeleine L’Engle’s first published novel tells the story of young Katherine Forrester, daughter of two famous musicians, who discovers in herself her own musical talent. This one is a beautifully realized coming-of-age novel set in Europe and New York City in the years before World War II. Semicolon review here.
3. Ilsa, 1946. Has anyone read this? Is it a novel or a play?
4. And Both Were Young, 1949, is another boarding school story starring artist Philippa Hunter who is miserable until she meets Paul and learns from him how to confront the past and overcome her self-doubt. I read this book a few months ago as a part of my Madeleine L’Engle project, but I never got around to writing about it here on the blog, maybe because I didn’t like it as much as I do her other books.
5. Camilla Dickinson, 1951. Republished in 1965 as simply Camilla, probably reworked to some extent. Semicolon review here.
6. A Winter’s Love, 1957. Semicolon review here.
7. Meet the Austins, 1960. The first in the Austin family series of books.
8. A Wrinkle in Time, 1962. Madeleine L’Engle’s most famous book, winner of the Newbery Award in 1963, is deserving of the praise it gets. Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace the genius, and her friend Calvin “tesser” through space and time to rescue Meg’s father from IT.
9. The Moon By Night, 1963. The Austin family goes on a cross-country camping trip, and Vicky, age 15, meets some interesting characters, including Zachary, a poor little rich boy who is alternately fascinating and alarming. This one moves into Young Adult territory with romance, but nothing salacious.
10. The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas, 1964. Christmas with the Austins.
11. The Arm of the Starfish, 1965. Polyhymnia (Polly) O’Keefe is the daughter of Meg (Murry) and Calvin O’Keefe from A Wrinkle in TIme. She becomes involved, along with a young student, Adam Eddington, in a complicated episode of scientific espionage.
12. Camilla, 1965. Semicolon review here.
13. The Love Letters, 1966. The story of a woman who is running away from a difficult marriage. She runs to Portugal, of all places, where she learns about love and responsibility and commitment from a 17th century Portuguese nun who broke her vows for the sake of a handsome French soldier. My favorite Madeleine L’Engle novel. (Adult) Semicolon review here.
14. A Journey With Jonah (a play), 1967.
15. The Young Unicorns, 1968. The Austin family is living in New York City; however, the story focuses on a couple of new friends of the Austins, pianist Emily Gregory and former gang member Dave Davidson. It’s a very sixties YA novel, featuring street gangs, lasers, and mad scientists.
16. Dance in the Desert, 1969.
17. Lines Scribbled on an Envelope and Other Poems, 1969
18. The Other Side of the Sun, 1971. The setting is early twentieth century South Carolina. English bride Stella Renier must come to live with her new husband’s famiy while he goes travelling on business. Sort of Gothic in good way with spiritual/Christian themes. (Young adult or adult)
19. A Circle of Quiet, 1972. Autobiography about Ms. L’Engle’s life in a village, her familly and her early writing life.
20. The Wind in the Door, 1973. The second of the Time Quartet books. Instead of travelling through time and space, Meg must travel inside Charles Wallace to diagnose and cure a problem with Charles Wallace’s mitochondria. Semicolon review here.
21. Everyday Prayers, 1974
22. Prayers for Sunday, 1974
23. The Risk of Birth, 1974
24. The Summer of the Great Grandmother, 1974. Nonfiction counterpart to the fictional A Ring of Endless Light, the two books deal with the task of dying with dignity and role of families in the process of death and dying.
25. Dragons in the Waters, 1976. Murder, smuggling, and blackmail in Venezuela. This YA novel features Polly O’Keefe.
26. The Irrational Season, 1977. A follow-up to Circle of Quiet and Summer of the Great-Grandmother.
27. A Swiftly Tilting Planet, 1978. The third book in the so-called TIme Quartet, this novel is one part science fiction, one part historical fiction, and another part just plain weird —in a wonderful sort of way.
28. The Weather of the Heart, 1978
29. Ladder of Angels, 1979
30. The Anti-Muffins, 1980. A short book about the Austins and nonconformism.
31. A Ring of Endless Light, 1980. Vicky Austin and her family must come to terms with the impending death of Vicky’s garndfather, and Vicky must decide who she is and whom she can trust.
32. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, 1980. These essays on the intersection of faith and art are quite helpful and thought-provoking for Christian artists in particular. JR at brokenstainedglass has been blogging about the insights he has gleaned from this book for last couple of months (August-September, 2007).
33. A Severed Wasp, 1982. Katherine Forrester from A Small Rain returns as an elderly retired concert pianist who becomes entangled in the life of the characters who ive in and around the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
34. And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings, 1983.
35. A House Like a Lotus, 1984. Polly O’Keefe, nearly seventeen years old in this novel, travels to Cyprus and learns both discernment and acceptance in her relationships.
36. Trailing Clouds of Glory: Spiritual Values in Children’s Literature, 1985 (with Avery Brooke). Another excellent book about the art of writing particularly for Christian writers.
37. Many Waters, 1986. A fictionalization of the Biblical story of Noah and the ark, with time travel, unicorns, and nephilim thrown in. The main characters are Meg Murry’s twin brothers, Sandy and Dennys.
38. A Stone for a Pillow: Journeys with Jacob, 1986
39. A Cry Like a Bell, 1987
40. Two-Part Invention, 1988. The story of Madeleine’s marriage to actor Hugh Franklin.
41. An Acceptable Time, 1989. Polly O’Keefe returns in her fourth story, and the plot and themes hark back to those of Time Quartet: time travel, peoples and cultures of the past, healing, the power of love.
42. Sold Into Egypt: Joseph’s Journey into Human Being, 1989.
43. The Glorious Impossible, 1990.
44. Certain Women, 1992 is an adult novel about the Biblical King David and about a modern-day David, an actor who engages in serial polygamy in about the same way that David of the Bible loved many women and had many wives. Semicolon review here.
45. The Rock That is Higher, 1993
46. Anytime Prayers, 1994
47. Troubling a Star, 1994. Vicky Austin and Adam Eddington are in Antarctica where they resist those who are trying to exploit the continent’s natural resources. YA.
48. Glimpses of Grace, 1996 (with Carole Chase)
49. A Live Coal in the Sea, 1996. This adult novel returns to the character Camilla from the book of the same name and tells the story of her famiy, especially her son Taxi and granddaughter Raffi.
50. Penguins and Golden Calves: Icons and Idols, 1996
51. Wintersong, 1996 (with Luci Shaw). Poetry.
52. Bright Evening Star, 1997
53. Friends for the Journey, 1997 (with Luci Shaw). Reviewed here by Carol of Magistramater.
54. Mothers and Daughters, 1997 (with Maria Rooney). Maria Rooney is Madeleine L’Engle’s daughter.
55. Miracle on 10th Street, 1998
56. A Full House, 1999. A Christmas story about the Austin family and an unexpected Christmas baby.
57. Mothers and Sons, 1999 (with Maria Rooney)
58. Prayerbook for Spiritual Friends, 1999 (with Luci Shaw)
59. The Other Dog, 2001
60. Madeleine L’Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life, 2001 (with Carole Chase)
61. The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L’Engle, 2005.
Archives
Poetry and Fine Art Friday: Underneath an Apple Tree
Apple Blossoms by Will Carleton
Underneath an apple-tree
Sat a maiden and her lover;
And the thoughts within her he
Yearned, in silence, to discover.
Round them danced the sunbeams bright,
Green the grass-lawn stretched before them
While the apple blossoms white
Hung in rich profusion o’er them.Naught within her eyes he read.
That would tell her mind unto him;
Though their light, he after said,
Quivered swiftly through and through him;
Till at last his heart burst free
From the prayer with which ’twas laden,
And he said, “When wilt thou be,
Mine forevermore, fair maiden?”“When,” said she, “the breeze of May
With white flakes our heads shall cover,
I will be thy brideling gay—
Thou shalt be my husband-lover.”
“How,” said he, in sorrow bowed,
“Can I hope such hopeful weather?
Breeze of May and Winter’s cloud
Do not often fly together.”Quickly as the words he said
From the west a wind came sighing,
And on each uncovered head
Sent the apple-blossoms flying;
“Flakes of white! Thou’rt mine,” said he,
“Sooner than thy wish or knowing.”
“Nay, I heard the breeze,” quoth she,
“When in yonder forest blowing.”
Will Carleton was a popular poet in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was known as the first poet laureate of Michigan, and in 1919, according to WIkipedia, the Michigan legislature passed a law that said that Michigan teachers had to teach at least one of Mr. Carleton’s poems in school. (Do they still teach the poetry of Will Carleton in Michigan?)
The artwork, which doesn’t exactly mirror the poem, is nevertheless a product of that fine artist, Z-Baby, whose painting should be, and probably will be, world renowned. She’s the Artist Laureate of the Semicolon Household.
To This Great Stage of Fools: Born September 4th
Francoise Rene de Chateaubriand, b. 1768. Chateaubriand was the youngest of ten children, and he grew up to be a famous writer and gourmand. His most acclaimed work was called Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe, in English Memoirs from Beyond the Grave. I want to write a memoir from beyond the grave. It sounds so romantic!
Phoebe Cary, b. 1824, is an American poetess who seems to have made a career of re-writing other people’s poems in her own words. You can read some samples here.
Mary Renault (Mary Challans), b. 1905. The King Must Die and its sequel,The Bull from the Sea, tell the story of Theseus in fiction for adults. I like these books a lot, especially the first one. Theseus, as a pagan Greek king, in this book pre-figures Christ in some ways. He sacrifices himself to the will of the god Poseidon, for the sake of his people. These are good stories, but be warned that homosexual behavior is positively portrayed, although not described in detail.
Syd Hoff, b. 1912. Author of Danny and the Dinosaur and Sammy the Seal, classic easy readers.
Joan Aiken, b. 1924. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Ms. Aiken is creepy and perilous. It’s set in a sort of alternate Victorian England in which there are dangerous wolves everywhere, and everyone knows how to shoot them, even children. Add in a villainous governess, a duplicitous lawyer, an orphan sent to a Dickensian school, and a ship lost at sea, and you’ve got Gothic for children. Just scary enough to be fun, but everything works out in the end.
To This Great Stage of Fools: Born September 3rd
Aliki Liacouras Brandenberg, b. 1929.
Take a look at this bibliography of books that she has written:
Ah, Music!. New York: HarperCollins, 2002.
Aliki’s Americans. Simon and Schuster, 1998.
All By Myself!. New York: HarperCollins, 2000.
At Mary Bloom’s Reissue ed. William Morrow, 1983.
Best Friends Together Again. 1st ed. Greenwillow, 1995.
Big Book for Our Planet. 1st ed. New York: Dutton, 1993.
Christmas Tree Memories. Reissue ed. HarperTrophy, 1994.
Communication. Greenwillow, 1993.
Corn Is Maize: The Gift of the Indians. HarperTrophy, 1986.
Digging Up Dinosaurs. TyCrowell, 1988.
Dinosaur Bones. HarperTrophy, 1990.
Dinosaurs Are Different. Demco Media, 1986.
Diogenes; The Story of the Greek Philosopher. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968.
The Eggs. Random Library, 1969.
Feelings. Greenwillow, 1984. Ages 4-8
Fossils Tell of Long Ago. Reissue ed. HarperTrophy, 1990.
George and the Cherry Tree.
Go Tell Aunt Rhody. Reprint ed. Aladdin, 1996.
The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. Harpercollins, 1994.
Green Grass and White Milk. New York: Crowell, 1974.
Hello! Good-Bye. Greenwillow, 1996.
How a Book Is Made. Reprint ed. HarperTrophy, 1988.
Hush Little Baby; A Folk Lullaby. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968.
I’m Growing. 1st ed. HarperCollins, 1992.
Jack and Jake. William Morrow, 1986.
June 7!. New York: Macmillan, 1972.
Keep Your Mouth Closed, Dear. New York: Dial, 1966.
The King’s Day; Louis XIV of France. Crowell, 1989.
Story of Johnny Appleseed.
The Long Lost Coelacanth; And Other Living Fossils. New York: Crowell, 1973.
Manners. Rep ed. Mulberry Books, 1997.
The Many Lives of Ben Franklin. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1988.
Milk from Cow to Carton. Rev ed. Harpercollins, 1992.
Marianthe’s Story: Painted Words, Spoken Memories Greenwillow, 1998.
A Medieval Feast. Reprint ed. HarperTrophy, 1986.
Mummies Made in Egypt. Reprint ed. Harper Trophy, 1985
My Feet. Reprint ed. Harpercollins, 1992.
My Five Senses. Demco Media, 1990, c1962.
My Hands. Rev. ed. Harpercollins, 1992.
My Visit to the Aquarium. Harpercollins, 1993.
My Visit to the Dinosaurs. Ty Crowell, 1985, c1969.
My Visit to the Zoo. Harpercrest, 1997. New Year’s Day. Crowell, 1967.
One Little Spoonful. New York: HarperFestival, 2001.
Overnight at Mary Bloom’s. Greenwillow, 1987.
The Story of Johnny Appleseed. Prentice-Hall, 1963.
The Story of William Penn. Reprint ed. Simon & Schuster, 1994, c1964.
The Story of William Tell. London: Faber and Faber, 1960.
Tabby: A Story in Pictures. Harpercrest, 1995.
Those Summers. Harpercollins, 1996.
Three Gold Pieces; A Greek Folk Tale. New York: Pantheon, 1967.
The Two of Them. Reprint ed. William Morrow, 1987. Ages 4-8
Use Your Head, Dear. 1st ed. Greenwillow, 1983.
We Are Best Friends. 1st ed. William Morrow, 1982.
A Weed Is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver. Demco Media, 1988 (c1965).
Welcome, Little Baby. Greenwillow, 1987.
Wild and Woolly Mammoths. Rev. ed. Harpercollins, 1996.
William Shakespeare and the Globe. HarperCollins, 1999.
The Wish Workers. New York: Dial Press, 1962.
And this prolific author has illustrated many more books by other authors. The ones in bold are Semicolon favorites.
To This Great Stage of Fools: Born September 2nd
Eugene Field, b. 1850. My favorite Eugene Field poem is Jest ‘Fore Christmas, probably because my mother used to quote it to me at Christmas-time.
Here’s a little more poetry from and information about Mr. Field from last year.
Lucretia Hale, b. 1820. Ms. Hale wrote The Peterkin Papers, a book of stories about the Peterkin family, made up of Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin, Elizabeth Eliza, Solomon John, Agamemnon, and “the little boys”. The Peterkin family are always getting themselves into scrapes and quandaries and having to consult with the lady from Philadelphia who resolves all their problems with simple common sense. The book of stories, most of which were first published in St. Nicholas magazine begins thus:
It may be remembered that the Peterkins originally hesitated about publishing their Family Papers, and were decided by referring the matter to the lady from Philadelphia. A little uncertain of whether she might happen to be at Philadelphia, they determined to write and ask her.
Solomon John suggested a postal-card. Everybody reads a postal, and everybody would read it as it came along, and see itsmimportance, and help it on. If the lady from Philadelphia were away, her family and all her servants would read it, and send it after her, for answer.
Elizabeth Eliza thought the postal a bright idea. It would not take so long to write as a letter, and would not be so expensive. But could they get the whole subject on a postal?
Mr. Peterkin believed there could be no difficulty, there was but one question:Â
Shall the adventures of the Peterkin family be published?
This was decided upon, and there was room for each of the family to sign, the little boys contenting themselves with rough sketches of their india-rubber boots.
Mr. Peterkin, Agamemnon, and Solomon John took the postal-card to the post-office early one morning, and by the afternoon of that very day, and all the next day, and for many days, came streaming in answers on postals and on letters. Their card had been addressed to the lady from Philadelphia, with the number of her street. But it must have been read by their neighbors in their own town post-office before leaving; it must have been read along its way: for by each mail came piles of postals and letters from town after town, in answer to the question, and all in the same tone:
‘Yes, yes; publish the adventures of the Peterkin family.’
‘Publish them, of course.’
And in time came the answer of the lady from Philadelphia:Â
‘Yes, of course; publish them.’This is why they were published.”
In addition to Mr. Field’s poem, Miss Hale’s story about the Peterkins’ Christmas tree is also a family favorite in December. You can read about the many adventures of the Peterkin family here.
Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death by Richard Peck
“I wondered if the pressures of schoolwork had unhinged his mind. His mind hangs by a single hinge at the best of times.” (p. 43)
“I don’t take much pleasure in the discomfort of others. But I take some.” (p. 48)
“You would need your own personal Rosetta Stone to decipher the peculiar ways of a parent.” (p. 48)
Cute story. Not much historical information. If you’re disturbed by the idea of a corpse travelling back and forth from Ancient Egypt to small town USA or by mummies’ curses and psychic visions and suchlike, you might want to skip this one. But it is funny, and the voice of the narrator, Blossom, age 14, is feisty and memorable. In fact, Mr. Peck has a whole series of books about Blossom Culp set in the early 1900’s in Bluff City, (Iowa?), and this one is the fourth in the series. If it sounds good to you, you might want to start with the first one, The Ghost Belonged To Me. I read this book to see if it would fit into our study of Ancient Egypt. It didn’t.
Book-spotting #29
Cindy lists more Books for Boys.
Kim C. lists her favorite books for the very young.
The List Universe: Top 15 Great Science FIction Books.
Sarah Johnson, who blogs at Reading the Past, has this article online, a list of twenty seminal novels of historical fiction. The list includes a short blurb for each book and some suggested “read-alikes.” It’s a great list including some of my faovrites: The Robe, Katherine, and The King Must Die, to name a few.
Under the Radar: Recommendations for Thursday
Big A, little a: A interview with Helen Dunmore
Bildungsroman: Swollen by Melissa Lion
Chasing Ray: Juniper, Genetian and Rosemary by Pamela Dean
A Fuse #8 Production: The Noisy Counting Book by Susan Schade
Finding Wonderland: Lucy the Giant by Sherry L. Smith
Jen Robinson’s Book Page: The Treasures of Weatherby by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
lectitans: Who Pppplugged Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf
Miss Erin: A discussion of Erec Rex: The Dragon’s Eye and an interview with author Kaza Kingsley
7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Billie Standish Was Here by Nancy Crocker
Semicolon: Jamie Langston Turner and Athol Dickson
Shaken & Stirred: The Changeover and Catalogue of the Universe, both by Margaret Mahy
Writing and Ruminating: Hugging the Rock by Susan Taylor Brown
Under the Radar Recommendations for Wednesday
A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: The President’s Daughter series by Ellen Emerson White
Big A, little a: The Tide Knot by Helen Dunmore
Jen Robinson’s Book Page: The Zilpha Keatley Snyder Green Sky trilogy
Bildungsroman: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn: A Discussion Part 1
Chasing Ray: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn: A Discussion Part 2
lectitans: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn: A Discussion Part 3
Finding Wonderland: The House on Hound Hill by Maggie Prince
Miss Erin: The Reb & Redcoats and Enemy Brothers, both by Constance Savery
Bookshelves of Doom: Harry Sue by Sue Stauffacher
Interactive Reader: Shake Down the Stars by Frances Donnelly
Chicken Spaghetti: Pooja Makhijani guest blogs with Romina’s Rangoli by Malathi Michelle Iyengar
Writing & Ruminating: Dear Mr. Rosenwald by Carole Weatherford
You Say TomAto . . .
La Tomatina is an event that takes place today in the town of Bunyol, Spain. On the last Wednesday of May, participants hurl over-ripe tomatoes at one another until th last tomato is smashed. If you have any over-ripe tomatoes, I think this would make a memorable cultural awareness project for your homeschool. “Memorable” is the key word.
Unfortunately for my poor deprived children, we have no excess or superfluous tomatoes . . .