Written for young people. grades 4-8, this is an interesting biography for Frances Hodgson Burnett fans of all ages. She was the Danielle Steel of her day, crossing the Atlantic 33 times. Her comings, goings, and divorces made front-page news in The New York Times and in other newspapers. This biography, which School Lihrary Journal says "reads like a good novel," offers many quotations from Frances and her friends, plus photos and illustrations from her books and plays. This review is written by the author--can you tell? For a slide-illustrated lecture call 561 965-4155

Gertrude Stein called them the "Lost Generation," this motley amalgamation of talented and not-so-talented would-be (in the early 1920s) writers and expatriates. Stein was one, Natalie Clifford Barney, Sylvia Beach were others - all profiled in GENIUSES TOGETHER.

The main narrative takes place between 1921 and 1928, the dates chosen because they encompass the years Hemingway and his associates invaded Montparnasse and created what Noel Coward called "a marvelous party."

It's quite a story, this picture of the romantic years (did they really look that way at the time?) of to-be literary giants: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Joyce, Pound. They shared money, books, lovers, living quarters. They careened from love to scandal and back again. They were individualists, scoundrels, idealists, one and all.

Christmas 1931: Sylvia Beach (of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore on the Left Bank) noticed a young man, whom she described as "a tall, dark young fellow with a small mustache" glancing through the magazines. She began to talk to him, discovered that he had no money for a lender's card, so she offered him a card, saying he could pay the deposit when he liked.

"It was only now that she discovered that he had a letter of introduction to her from Sherwood Anderson, who was back in Chicago. He had been to shy to present it. 'I am writing this,' said the letter,' to make you acquainted with my friend Ernest Hemingway...an American writer instinctively in touch with everything worthwhile going on here and I know you will find both Mr. and Mrs. Hemingway delightful people to know.'"

Author Humphrey Carter is a British writer who has written biographies of W.H. Auden, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and recipient of the E.M. Forster Award.

I loved this book. I'll read it again soon. It's intelligent, sympathetic, scholarly and imminently readable. It's a thoroughly engaging examination of a time, a community and a world that had tremendous impact on literary fashion. I give it the highest recommendation - it's delightful.

Once upon a time, a little girl found a book on a library shelf with an interesting title. She took it home and discovered a world where gardens are locked, a boy can talk to animals, and mysteries abound in every corner of Misselthwaite Manor. And friendship is forever. Okay, you guessed it. The little girl was me. The story of Mary quite Contrary, a little girl with no one to love and no one who loved her, Colin the invalid who has spent his entire life inside the manor, and Dickon the simple boy from the moors well deserves the title "classic". There is simply no other story like it. Frances Hodgson Burnett has written a wonderful story about love and friendship between three very different children, and the secret garden that brings them together.

I read The Secret Garden when I was in the fifth grade. The book was a combination of realistic fiction and mystery. I was always looking for clues to explain the next chapter .I was so engrossed in the book that I read 30 pages every half an hour!
The whole plot of The Secret Garden was about a girl named Mary Lennox, an orphaned, disagreeable looking, girl, who needed some action in her life. And she reached her goal. She was ten when she moved to her Uncle's house on a moor in Yorkshire. One of the housemaids, Martha, showed her around, and told Mary stories about her family that Mary enjoyed. On of Martha's brothers, Dickon, was an animal charmer and a nice, perfect boy who Mary fancyed that Mary finally met. He helped her uncover and bring to life a huge secret.This secret can not be shared with you, you'll have to find out yourself.Mean while, when Mary was sleeping at night, a childs cry woke her up. On day she investigated the noise. She found another secret on her way, a secret corrider. Will Mary find out who is screaming? If so, what should she do about it? Will Dickon and Mary succeed in bringing the secret alive?
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading exciting adventures. My opinion on The Secret Garden is that out of five stars I would give it 5 stars, because it was so fun to read, and I didn't want to stop! And those are the results of the good book The Secret Garden!

No movie version nor the Broadway musical effectively capture this book. On screen or on stage, it doesn't translate well because it doesn't show the wonderful transformations of the characters.

The Secret Garden is a fabulous story and wonderfully well-written. Orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live with her uncle. She is sickly (both physically and emotionally). She is spoiled, inactive, lazy and pale. When she discovers the secret garden, she decides to keep it for herself. But she can't remain alone, and she can't keep the garden to herself; Mary must learn to share, both the garden and her life. As the garden transforms from a lifeless, ugly place, Mary transforms, too. This slow, beautiful process (of the garden and Mary) coming to life is what makes the book so wonderful (and the movies not so good). The greatness of this book lies not in its plot (which almost everyone knows) but in the way the plot unfolds and the characters blossom.

Martha, Dickon, Colin and Archibald play their parts in Mary's transformation, and they, too, are changed by the wondrous things that happen.