Pretty Girl- 13 by Liz Coley is a book that I’ve been excited to read for awhile now. It came out last month, and I must get my hands on a copy ASAP! I think a trip to the bookstore is in my near future with this one. However, whether you have read this one or not, I am happy to share with you a lovely guest post from Liz about one of her Most Important Books.
-Lauren
Official Summary:
Pretty girl
13 when she went missing
13 when she went missing
lost to her family to her friends to the world
found but still missing her self
When thirteen-year-old Angela Gracie Chapman looks in the mirror, someone else looks back–a thin, pale stranger, a sixteen-year-old with haunted eyes. Angie has no memory of the past three years, years in which she was lost to the authorities, lost to her family and friends, lost even to herself. Where has she been, who has been living her life, and what is hiding behind the terrible blankness? There are secrets you can’t even tell yourself.
Visit Liz Coley on her website and check out the guest post below!
The Most Important
Book Ever – The Secret Garden
Book Ever – The Secret Garden
By Liz Coley
the first book that touched me to the core was The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was fortunate in
my choice of a British mother, who read aloud with the correct Yorkshire
dialect, making sense of all the tricky apostrophes and altered vowels.
recluse’s care in an English manor-house, I related to her story. She was a
grouchy child; right or wrong, I considered myself a grouchy, somewhat
miserable child. My favorite characters were Lucy in Peanuts, Eeyore in Winnie
the Pooh, and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. In spite of a perfectly normal
childhood, I remember declaring with all the angsty melodrama I could summon,
“If only I had a bottle to collect all the tears I’ve ever cried!”
Why wasn’t the world more beautiful to me? I searched the
back of my closet for Narnia; twice I dreamed of secret chambers hidden in the
oak footboard of my bed; I jumped off ladders with an open black umbrella; I
dressed in pink, hid in an alibaba, and tried very hard to become a genie/fairy
named Ella. Still, it seemed the magic wasn’t for me.
back of my closet for Narnia; twice I dreamed of secret chambers hidden in the
oak footboard of my bed; I jumped off ladders with an open black umbrella; I
dressed in pink, hid in an alibaba, and tried very hard to become a genie/fairy
named Ella. Still, it seemed the magic wasn’t for me.
Mary Lennox’s life was lonely, colorless, and miserable
until she discovered her secret place, the walled garden where things unloved
and forgotten lay dormant, waiting for love to make them bloom. Miraculously,
Mary found this otherworldly place in the mundane world. The idea that such
things were possible was a heart-expanding, mind-blowing notion for me. I had a
crush on Dicken for his gentle way with people and nature. I felt sisterly
affection for Colin both in his tantrums and in his getting better. This hidden
place where children both healed the earth and healed each other’s physical and
emotional wounds was profound. In elementary school, I didn’t have the words or
concepts for what I felt, just a sense that this story was very profound and
very important.
until she discovered her secret place, the walled garden where things unloved
and forgotten lay dormant, waiting for love to make them bloom. Miraculously,
Mary found this otherworldly place in the mundane world. The idea that such
things were possible was a heart-expanding, mind-blowing notion for me. I had a
crush on Dicken for his gentle way with people and nature. I felt sisterly
affection for Colin both in his tantrums and in his getting better. This hidden
place where children both healed the earth and healed each other’s physical and
emotional wounds was profound. In elementary school, I didn’t have the words or
concepts for what I felt, just a sense that this story was very profound and
very important.
and cozy places. I love places we can call our own, make our own. I love
microworlds where we can find peace and truth and healing.
A book that seems to be eagerly awaited by many bloggers myself included.
Yea, I always loved secret niches and who didn't have a thing for Dicken? 😀 Cute blog post even for the grouchy! 😀
Lovely post! It's interesting which books change the world for people. I must admit to liking secret niches myself.
I loved the Secret Garden as well. I read it when I was ten and fell in love with it. I have heard some great things about Liz' book and I am eager to get my hands on it.
I need to read that!
I've never read the book but the movie is a favorite of mine. It was so beautiful and I wish Hollywood made more children's movies like The Secret Garden.
I adore secret places.
This book is already on my wish list. I'd love to read it.
Thanks everyone. I hope you like the book and then tell all your friends : )
Check out this beautiful video book trailer my publisher had made for Pretty GIrl-13.
youtube.com/watch?v=HHiHYZ4eglo
Secret places are wonderful and so is this guest post.
I haven't actually read The Secret Garden (I blame it on the cultural differences and upbringing – we were more Euro-oriented), I was also a grouchy, somewhat miserable girl and I probably would have easily identified with Mary as well.
Pretty Girl-13 has been getting amazing reviews. I have a copy on the way and I'm very excited to read it.
Thanks for sharing!
What a great guest post! I have been meaning to check this book out – it sounds incredible! 🙂
I haven't read The Secret Garden but I do have it actually I just haven'"t gotten to it yet. Pretty Girl 13 was awesome though I loved it!
This does sound good, I might grab the audio version!