Bawden, Nina Books

Carrie's War (New Windmills)

Nina Bawden

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Sweet sweet moral ambiguity 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 17 people found this review helpful.

There is a very simple test that you can perform on a children's book to figure out if it is a good book or a bad book. All you have to do is look at the bad guys and the good guys. Now, are the good guys good all the time and never deviate from their holy quest? And are the bad guys bad at all times and never show even the slightest human emotion or small moment of of conscience or pity? Well congratulations! You are currently reading a bad book! and it doesn't matter if the book you are reading is intended for a five-year-old or a fifty-year-old. If characters appear in perfect black and white at any and all times then the author of the work is not a mature enough writer to give their characters any depth or ambiguity. I mean heck, even "Harry Potter" has the deliciously maybe-he's-bad-maybe-he's-good Severus Snape. Which brings us in the most roundabout way possible to Nina Bawden's 1973 classic, "Carrie's War". A delicate deeply interesting book that remains basically forgotten today, Bawden's best-known work is still as good a read now as it was way back in the early 70s. Ya gotta respect that kind of staying power.

It's the middle of the Second World War and Carrie and Nick are on a train to the deep depths of Wales itself with a load of other schoolchildren. Their father is a Captain in the war and their mother a volunteer ambulance driver so it's just the two kids making their way northward. Once there, they're taken in by a kindly, if skittish, older woman and her domineering older brother. They also make the acquaintance of a mysterious lady who lives in a dark hollow called Druid's Bottom. There the woman lives with her simple companion and the elderly woman she tends. In their new home, Carrie finds herself sympathizing with Mr. Evans, her rough guardian, while Nick leans more towards Mr. Evan's sister, Auntie Lou. Yet when Carrie is caught in the middle of an unpleasant family drama, she takes an action that she will regret for decades and decades, only to be remedied, at last, by her own children.

The only other work of fiction that comes to mind when I think of plots centered on kids sent to the English countryside during World War II is, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". Not bad company to be in. "Carrie's War" is a bit subtler than your average work of kiddie lit, though. For one thing it dares to think about the background of its "villain". Mr. Evans is your typical storybook ghoul in many ways. He's a bully, a cheapskate, and the unquestioned lord of his little roost. His sister quails under his leadership and the children are, at first anyway, deathly afraid of him. Over time, however, Carrie learns a little more about Mr. Evans' history and what made him the way he is. If he's cruel or sharp it has much to do with what he lost when he was young. Even when she attempts to confront him as a villain she's struck by his small kindnesses and acts of generosity. Sure, he can be awful. But who isn't awful once in a while?

Other clever writing techniques employed by Ms. Bawden include her choice of beginning the book with an older Carrie lamenting an action she made years and years before. There's even a hint that she may find a romantic interest with an old friend, though nothing explicit is said. And on top of all of that, the writing in this tale is top notch. Really lovely stuff. Bawden gives us a realistic view of adult relations through the eys of a child while never sacrificing plot, motivation, or believable interactions. As an example of just being a wonderfully written book, "Carrie's War" takes the cake. A great tale that deserves to be remembered.

Editorial Review:

One of a series of top-quality fiction for schools. Carrie and her brother Nick are evacuated to a Welsh mountain village in 1939, and become closely involved with several memorable characters.

WHITE HORSE GANG

Nina Bawden

List Price: $13.95 By: Clarion Books Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $0.01

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Editorial Review:

Sam, his cousin Rose, and lonely Abe Turner explore the haunted Gibbet Wood and get into mischief and adventure.

HOUSE OF SECRETS CL

Nina Bawden

List Price: $13.95 By: Clarion Books Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An adventurous book with lots of startling conclusions. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Earlier publications of this book used a different title"The Secret Passage," but it is exactly the same story. After the death of their mother, John, Mary and Ben Mallory must go to England to live with their Aunt Mable in a boarding house by the sea. They automatically hate the place, which is dark and gloomy, and they miss their home in Africa which is sunny with lots of open space. The house next door to Aunt Mables is very large and used to belong to their mother and Aunt Mable when they were both young girls. While they are staying at the boarding house they find out many secrets about their family from the other two perminant guests at the boarding house; Miss Pin, an eccentric old lady who knew their mother and aunt as little girls; and Mr.Agnew, an unsuccessful artists who has lived at the house rent free for a long time. One day, while playing in the basement, they come across a tunnel, a secret passage, that leads into the large house next door, which John has named the House of Secrets as it is to be the secret hiding place of the three siblings.......but someone is already living there...and the house was supposed to have been empty for years.

Editorial Review:

Sent to England to live with their aunt Mabel after their mother's death, John, Mary, and Ben Mallory discover unexpected danger and mystery in the dark house next door. Reissue.

HANDFUL OF THIEVES CL

Nina Bawden

List Price: $13.95 By: Clarion Books Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

THIEVES 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

You might have thought the story (by reading the title) was about to prison escapees who go around stealing, don't you? Well, you're wrong! It's a book about a group of children who play by the river and dare each other to do things. When they find someone suspicious, they tail them! When these little police-kids find a real criminal, they find the house the "criminal" is renting. Finally, they climb in the window to look for clues. They are spotted and what will happen? Find out the crucial plot yourself by buying this book!

Editorial Review:

When a confidence man steals Fred's grandmother's savings, Fred and his four friends set out to find him and steal it back.

The Peppermint Pig (Puffin Books)

Nina Bawden

List Price: $2.95 By: Puffin Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Sad Story About A Pig 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Johnny the pig started off as a family pet for a poor girl Emily. The pig was the runt of the litter and no one wanted him. He was given to Emily who treated him as a pet even though the understanding was that he would eventually be eaten. The pig Johnny was very smart and acted like a dog. As the pig got older, he was not as active, and like older pets, he just hung around eating and sleeping. For this poor family who owed many bills, the animal was a luxury that they couldn't afford. Emily comes home from school one day and Johnny is not there. He was sent to the butcher's as payment for a bill. It was devastating to her and also to me. I haven't wanted pork or bacon since. This book was good reading. It is set in the 1920's and the idiomatic language is difficult at times to follow. But overall if you like sad animal stories, you will like this book.

Editorial Review:

Johnnie was only the runt of the litter, a little peppermint pig. He'd cost Mother a shilling, but somehow his great naughtiness and cleverness kept Poll and Theo cheerful, even though it was one of the most difficult years of their lives.

The Real Plato Jones

Nina Bawden

Amazon Price: $11.70 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarion Books Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $0.01

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Editorial Review:

Thirteen-year-old Plato Jones comes to terms with his mixed heritage when he visits Greece and finds out about his Welsh grandfather, a World War II hero, and his Greek grandfather, who is rumored to have been a traitor.

Henry

Nina Bawden

List Price: $15.00 By: Lothrop Lee & Shepard Amazon Marketplace: 32 new & used starting at $0.01

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Editorial Review:

Evacuated to the English countryside during World War II, a fatherless family tries to raise a baby squirrel that also lost its home.

Rebel on a Rock

Nina Bawden

List Price: $13.89 By: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $1.98

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Editorial Review:

A family's visit to a country under the rule of a dictator involves the children in a startling revolutionary secret and leads them to suspect that their stepfather is a spy.

Carrie's War (Puffin Modern Classics)

Nina Bawden

List Price: $12.40 By: Puffin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

another 'should be' best seller; Carrie's war 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Hi! this is another one of my favorite books. it is about a youg girl and her broter who are sent to live in the country durng world war two. this book does not talk about the outside war, but the personal war that carrie faces. she lives (presently) with a broher an sister, one of which is like a mouse, the outher like a lion. she makes frends, larns about crulitly, hadships, and fairnes. ths story is a wounderful book about the wounders and harships one has to go through.

Editorial Review:

Albert, Carrie and young Nick are war-time evacuees whose lives get so tangled up with the people they've come to live among that the war and their real families seem to belong to another world. Carrie and Nick are billeted in Wales with old Mr Evans, who is so mean and cold, and his timid mouse of a sister, Lou, who suddenly starts having secrets. Their friend Albert is luckier, living in Druid's Bottom with warm-hearted Hepzibah Green and the strange Mister Johnny, who can talk to animals but not to human beings. Carrie and Nick visit him there whenever they can for Hepzibah makes life exciting and enticing with her stories and delicious cooking. Gradually they begin to feel more at ease in their war-time home, but then, in trying to heal the rift between Mr Evans and his estranged sister, and save Druid's Bottom, Carrie does a terrible thing which is to haunt her for years to come. Carrie revisits Wales as an adult and tells the story to her own children.

Granny the Pag

Nina Bawden

List Price: $10.35 By: Puffin Books Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $1.87

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Granny The Pag 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I enjoyed this book because it was exiting and sad. It was very realalistic and it was an exallant book.I would say out of all of the books i have read it is tied with the number one spot.I would rccomend this book to anyone,I mean this is so unbelivebly exiting!I also liked it because the author used very discriptive language.

Wonderful, A Great Reader!!! I just couldn't put it down!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I went to the library and I told the librarian I wanted a good and easy reader and I got Granny The pag. I was blown away by the way it was written and I couldn't put it down!

a very interesting book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

It is one of the best books for children I have read the last 2 years.It is funny and teach both children and adults how to make their dreams come true.I recommend it.

Granny the Pag 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I liked the book "Granny the Pag", it was not very exiting but it had a good story. I liked the conflict between the charicters. Theplot was also good.
The worst part of the book was when they are in greece, its so boring. The best parts are when her and her granny are fighting.
The story elements that were most vivid to me were, when they are at her house. They described everything about it. I also liked how they described "the pag". They told about what she would wear and what she would do to be called a pag. "Granny the Pag" is a pretty good book, I think you will like it.

Editorial Review:

Granny the Pag - biker, psychiatrist and chain-smoker - is a powerful person, but a social embarrassment. However, when Catriona's relationship with her Gran is threatened, Catriona fights for the right to choose where she lives and with who, and she chooses Granny the Pag.