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THINGS FINLEY HART DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT
- Her parents, who are having problems. (But they pretend like they’re not.)
- Being sent to her grandparents’ house for the summer.
- Never having met said grandparents.
- Her blue days—when life feels overwhelming, and it’s hard to keep her head up. (This happens a lot.)
Finley’s only retreat is the Everwood, a forest kingdom that exists in the pages of her notebook. Until she discovers the endless woods behind her grandparents’ house and realizes the Everwood is real–and holds more mysteries than she’d ever imagined, including a family of pirates that she isn’t allowed to talk to, trees covered in ash, and a strange old wizard living in a house made of bones.
With the help of her cousins, Finley sets out on a mission to save the dying Everwood and uncover its secrets. But as the mysteries pile up and the frightening sadness inside her grows, Finley realizes that if she wants to save the Everwood, she’ll first have to save herself.
First sentence: “Once there was a great, sprawling forest called the Everwood.”
Finley Hart’s summer is not what she expects it to be.
- Instead of spending it with her parents, she’s sent to her grandparents’ house, a place she had never been and is full of relatives she had never met before.
- She finds that her forest kingdom called Everwood lives right behind her grandparent’s house.
- Her cousins join Finley on her adventures in the forest.
- She has blue days, and has to try to keep them locked away from herself and her relatives.
- She finds mysteries and secrets that she wants to uncover.
That is just a taste of what you can expect from Some Kind of Happiness. Everything that Claire Legrand has written will transport you to this magical world that weaves in the real life with Finley’s fantasical stories. You won’t be able to tear your eyes away from it.
The clock chimes midnight, a curse breaks, and a girl meets a prince . . . but what follows is not all sweetness and sugarplums. I NEED THIS BOOK. I HAVE THREATENED TO MAIM SOMEBODY TO GET THIS. (There were witnesses to my statement. I stand by it, sort of.) I’m a huge fan of Claire Legrand. Sure, I’ve read one book by her so far, but it was enough to convince me that her writing is fucking kickass, and I should read all her books. Also, friends, Winterspell was inspired by The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker. (I can already hear the music in my head.) How can I not want to read this? Like most people, I have a big affection for the ballet. Plus, Clara was secretly trained in this, and there’s a wicked curse. Can you feel my excitement? Winterspell is an absolute must!
Winterspell by Claire Legrand
September 30, 2014
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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New York City, 1899. Clara Stole, the mayor’s ever-proper daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother’s murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.
Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.
Her home is destroyed, her father abducted–by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they’re to survive, Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets–and a need she can’t define. With the dangerous, seductive faery queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won’t leave Cane unscathed–if she leaves at all.
Inspired by The Nutcracker, Winterspell is a dark, timeless fairy tale about love and war, longing and loneliness, and a girl who must learn to live without fear.Why I’m waiting?
What books are you waiting on?
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand
August 28, 2012
Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
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At the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, you will definitely learn your lesson. A dark, timeless, and heartfelt novel for fans of Coraline and The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Victoria hates nonsense. There is no need for it when your life is perfect. The only smudge on her pristine life is her best friend Lawrence. He is a disaster—lazy and dreamy, shirt always untucked, obsessed with his silly piano. Victoria often wonders why she ever bothered being his friend. (Lawrence does too.)
But then Lawrence goes missing. And he’s not the only one. Victoria soon discovers that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is not what it appears to be. Kids go in but come out…different. Or they don’t come out at all.
If anyone can sort this out, it’s Victoria—even if it means getting a little messy.
First sentence: “When Victoria Wright was twelve years old, she had precisely one friend. “
Ummm, what did I just read?
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is the most weirdest and creepy YA/MG story I have ever read. Every time I try to think about how I feel about it, a big “whattttttt??” continues to hang over my head. I think I liked it because of the creepy and weird story that totally caught me by surprise? However, at the same time, maybe I didn’t like it? Maybe? See, I can’t even properly convey my feelings because I’m still completely baffled by it. I deem that a good thing.
I really enjoy how bizarre and disturbing this book is. Everything that happened isn’t very straight-forward or normal. The mystery of Lawrence’s disappearance and of Mrs. Cavendish and the home she runs isn’t what I expected; it’s far more jaw-dropping than I had initially thought. The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is a reform school that uses very questionable tactics to fix problems in a kid. (For instance, if the parents doesn’t like that their kid is not very good-looking or isn’t focused on their studies, they’ll send them to Mrs. Cavendish). I love that everybody in Belleville (all the parents and Mrs. Cavendish) played a part in what has been going on with the disappearing children; nobody is totally blameless. I would hate to be shipped off to that reform home because it’s a completely fucked up place — from the punishments for disobeying really strict and weird rules to the things that occur or the creatures that live in the house. It absolutely makes me screamish. I just—no thanks.
The disappearance of children have been occurring for years. And it’s not until Victoria Wright enters the picture that we finally get to see what exactly has been going on. Victoria notices that her only friend, Lawrence Prewitt, has disappeared and also notices that all the adults are acting really strangely. I don’t particularly like Victoria because she’s, how I should say, a brat and grated on my nerves. She’s a perfectionist, smart, and incredibly stuck up. She views other kids as being “beneath” her. Her only friend Lawrence started off as a project for her to fix up since he was an outcast who had gray hairs already growing from his head. I had a big problem with how she approached situations, which inspired me to write this rather mean letter to her. (I know I’m hard on a twelve year old. :P) She’s totally someone I would not even interact with because of her attitude and because how different she is to me when I was her age. Despite my dislike for her, I like seeing how flawed she is, how confident she is, and how she dealt with emotions that were totally foreign to her (ie. caring for people she wouldn’t have given another thought to) through this ordeal. She’s a different type of heroine that knows what she wants. I can’t really fault her for that.
I consider The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls a kind of frightening, yet kind of refreshing book in a “oh shit, what the fuck is happening. Gahhh, it’s so messed up and I am shivering because creepiness!” way. It actually left me dazed, trying to figure out what I just read. And I say to that, bravo! 
