Thursday, August 31, 2017

Plain Jane and Pretty Betty and Little Miss Sunshine

In Plain Jane and Pretty Betty, Jane is happy when her family moves away from Coal Run. For years, the other children have taunted her by bullying her and calling her "Plain Jane." The family gets settled in Greenville and has a bright future until Jane's guardian loses his job.  Jane must help provide for the family.  As Jane seeks work, she meets "Pretty Betty," a rich girl who looks down on Jane.  While Jane works to help her guardians, Betty encounters unexpected misfortune.  The two very different girls soon find that their future destinies are inexorably intertwined.

The ending of the story has a very unrealistic coincidence.  That sort of thing can be expected in the average series book, but the coincidence is rather extreme in this case.

This is an excellent book.

In Little Miss Sunshine, Margery's father has died.  Margery is forced to give up her beloved dog, Tinker, and must go away to live with her father's old friend, Major Welby.  The Major has no idea how to care for a girl, so he hires Mrs. Sloper to be her caregiver.  The Major is unaware that Mrs. Sloper's references are fake, and Mrs. Sloper promptly begins abusing Margery.

The beginning of this book quite depressed me, since every horrible thing that could possibly happen to Margery does happen.  It was almost more than I could take.  Mrs. Sloper is awful!

This is an excellent book

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