Skip to main content

Wishing for Tomorrow: the sequel to A Little Princess

By curlyq
Wishing for Tomorrow: the sequel to A Little Princess
By Hilary McKay
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2010. 273 pp. Chapter book.

It's always been a mystery as to what happened to the rest of the students after Sara Crewe escaped Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies. In this lovely sequel, written by Hilary McKay, the continuing stories of Lottie, Ermengarde, and even Lavinia are revealed. How the school, pupils, and teachers are changed and how they all manage to find some happiness in one way or another are addressed, making the original story of A Little Princess even richer. Lavinia is given a more human side and a fuller scope of personality is revealed, showing her deep longing to learn. Lottie is still up to her usual mischief but has matured a small bit. Ermengarde seems to be suffering from Sara's absence the most--her journey of maturing and finding peace is the heart of the story.

Reading a sequel to a childhood favorite, when penned by a different author, is a strange experience. There is always the worry that it won't do justice to the original or that will sound so foreign as to be jarring, but Wishing for Tomorrow escapes all such unpleasant problems. McKay remained so true to Burnett's writing style that the reader can completely and seamlessly slip back into the world of Miss Minchin's Select Seminary. I was truly impressed with the harmony of the sequel and the original; even the phrasing and vocabulary was in tune. New characters are introduced and are just as delightful as the original ones. My one regret was that Sara wasn't more involved in the story; she was always my favorite character and it would have been wonderful to see things from her eyes once again, although I did appreciate that she was included in a small way. Nonetheless, this was an excellent, beautifully written book with great charm, grace, and hilarious mischief scattered throughout. What a wonderful delight--thank you, Hilary McKay!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry

By DeeDee
National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry Edited by J. Patrick Lewis National Geographic, 2012, 183 p. Poetry In this beautiful poetry collection, the National Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, has teamed up with the amazing photographers at National Geographic. The result is 200 poems about animals, all illustrated with stunning nature photography.  The poems are well chosen and include rhyming, free verse, and shape poetry. Some of the poems are funny, many are contemplative and all are nicely typeset on top of the full color photographs. One of my favorites is a shape poem about flamingos, with a photograph of a flock of flamingos which seem to be standing the the shape of a flamingo (how did they do that?).  Lewis ends the collection with a brief but interesting section about writing animal poetry.  This selection is sure to turn any animal lover into a poetry lover.
Post a Comment
Read more