Playing With Fire ny Anthony Masters

Tim's school has just moved into a brand new building, but I bet he doesn't have views out of his classroom window like we do in Bay unit. No views, but ghosts. You see, the new school has been built on the site of an ancient abbey. This is what the local newspaper had to say about it:

The new St Elmer's Primary school opens on Monday on land that has remained derelict since the eleventh century. Until now, local superstition has always prevented the land from being used. Legend has it that there was once a small abbey on the site and that the last few monks there forgot their own vows and began to rob the local community. They were thought to have amassed a fortune before the abbey was struck by lightening and burnt to the ground. The Masked Monks as they were known, perished in the flames, but it has always been suspected that the treasure survived as the monks were reputed to have hidden it down a well...

This is a fun read with quirky ink drawing scattered throughout. It has strong characterization and moves along at a good pace. British author, Anthony Masters, is no longer with us, but his books live on. Click here to see just how many books he has penned: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/anthony-masters/

A little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This book is one of my all time favourites and set in the early 1900’s. It tells a story of the extremely rich and the extremely poor. It shows how differently they were treated and how much they were segregated. Sara Crew was born in India to a very rich man named Ralph Crewe, he is very close to his daughter Sara so he is very upset when he has to send her away to boarding school because at that time India wasn’t a safe place for children to live; the climate was terrible and there was a war going on. Since Sara was very wealthy she was treated very well at the boarding school, she had her own toy room, a pony, and a very extravagant wardrobe. But when Mr. Crewe dies of Brain Fever, a very common disease in India at that time, and she is told she has no money and is an orphan. Mrs. Minchin; the lady who owns the boarding school wants to throw her out on the streets, but instead she keeps her as a servant, she takes all her belongings and makes her sleep in the attic, and she deprives her of food. Then when an Indian man moves in next door to the boarding house Sara befriends him. She speaks to him in Hindi and he was very impressed, but he wasn’t really just an Indian man, he is a friend of Sara’s father. He becomes her legal guardian and keeps the fortune until she is of age. Click on the link below to watch the trailer to the movie:

http://www.videodetective.com/movies/trailers/a-little-princess-trailer/5637