Miracles on Maple Hill

This is a book that belongs to a story style of about fifty years ago and I don't know if something of a style would nowadays managed to win a Newbery. This is something sweet, wholesome, without any real threat. Some actually might find it boring, but it you can appreciate this more positive style, this is a darling and truly miraculous story. Marly's father is a war veteran having...more

This is a book that belongs to a story style of about fifty years ago and I don't know if something of a style would nowadays managed to win a Newbery. This is something sweet, wholesome, without any real threat. Some actually might find it boring, but it you can appreciate this more positive style, this is a darling and truly miraculous story. Marly's father is a war veteran having difficulty recovering emotionally. So the family packs up and moves to her great-grandmother's old house where they meet the Chrises, a maple syrup-making family. Marly immediately falls in love with the countryside, and this book is basically a testament to that love, filled with strange hermit neighbors and a love for the natural world. It's almost a pastoral in that sense. So, no, there are no horrible dangers or emotional scarring, just a praise of nature and country life. But if one can accept that, he will find an enchanting little story.   hide