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THE SECRET GARDEN

 

When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. Her hair was yellow, and her face was yellow because she had been born in India and had always been ill in one way or another. Her father had held a position under the English Government and had always been busy and ill himself, and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people. She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived. The young English governess who came to teach her to read and write disliked her so much that she gave up her place in three months, and when other governesses came to try to fill it they always went away in a shorter time than the first one. So if Mary had not chosen to really want to know how to read books she would never have learned her letters at all.
One frightfully hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she awakened feeling very cross, and she became crosser still when she saw that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah.
"Why did you come?" she said to the strange woman. "I will not let you stay. Send my Ayah to me."
The woman looked frightened, but she only stammered that the Ayah could not come and when Mary threw herself into a passion and beat and kicked her, she looked only more frightened and repeated that it was not possible for the Ayah to come to Missie Sahib.
There was something mysterious in the air that morning. Nothing was done in its regular order and several of the native servants seemed missing, while those whom Mary saw slunk or hurried about with ashy and scared faces. But no one would tell her anything and her Ayah did not come. She was actually left alone as the morning went on, and at last she wandered out into the garden and began to play by herself under a tree near the veranda. She pretended that she was making a flower-bed, and she stuck big scarlet hibiscus blossoms into little heaps of earth, all the time growing more and more angry and muttering to herself the things she would say and the names she would call Saidie when she returned.
"Pig! Pig! Daughter of Pigs!" she said, because to call a native a pig is the worst insult of all.
She was grinding her teeth and saying this over and over again when she heard her mother come out on the veranda with some one. She was with a fair young man and they stood talking together in low strange voices. Mary knew the fair young man who looked like a boy. She had heard that he was a very young officer who had just come from England. The child stared at him, but she stared most at her mother. She always did this when she had a chance to see her, because the Mem Sahib--Mary used to call her that oftener than anything else--was such a tall, slim, pretty person and wore such lovely clothes. Her hair was like curly silk and she had a delicate little nose which seemed to be disdaining things, and she had large laughing eyes. All her clothes were thin and floating, and Mary said they were "full of lace." They looked fuller of lace than ever this morning, but her eyes were not laughing at all. They were large and scared and lifted imploringly to the fair boy officer's face.
"Is it so very bad? Oh, is it?" Mary heard her say.

 

Secret Garden, The

- classic



by: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Review done by:
Sana Salamah
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

A great classic I read this year was The Little Princess . It was written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
This book was about a little girl by the name of Mary Lennox. Both of her parents died when she was very young. She was sent to India to be taken care of by a maid. In those days, they were called Ayahs. After a while, Mary's Ayah died, and she was sent to Misslewaithe Manor which belonged to her uncle. Her uncle, Mr. Archibald Craven, has never been seen by anyone other than Miss Minchin, the house maid. Miss Minchin was an evil person and didn't like anyone other than herself. Mr. Craven had a younger son named Colin. Colin was afraid that he would turn out like his father.
One cold night when the wind was blowing hard outside, Mary heard a loud cry. Mary asked her private housemaid, Martha, what that was. Martha said it was the wind. But later that night, Mary heard the same loud cry again. She followed the noise and came to a hidden room door. She opened it and found Colin. Mary found out that Colin was very sick and no one cared. Mary helped Colin get over his fear of becoming like his father.
There is a reason why the book was called The Secret Garden . The reason is because one nice day Mary went out and saw a blue and red robin. The robin showed Mary the way to a secret garden that was hidden by many vines and spider webs. Mary asked the robin where the key to the door was and the robin flew to where the key was. Mary opened the door and saw that there were only weeds. She knew, by how the door was hidden, that no one else should know about it. Mary asked Martha why was Mr. Craven was so sad. Martha said that his wife died. Mary then asked Martha how she died. Martha then answered her that Mrs. Craven died by falling off a swing in a secret garden that Mr. Craven locked up.
This book is an easy classic for poor readers. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone who is looking for a good and easy classic.
Student Book Review:

Secret Garden,The- Classic by:Frances Hodgson Burnett

Review done by:
Ashley Drake
Grade 6
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The Secret Garden is an enchanting book about a secret garden. This book was a classic and took place around 1912. This book is a book for people who love to read.
The Secret Garden is about a little girl named Mary who moves from India to her uncles house. She was used to slaves and having a "Nanny" dress her, feed her, and amuse her. When India was attacked Mary was taken away to England to live with her uncle. She meets a maid from Yorkshire and learns that how to talk like her and live like her. Martha opens a new world for Mary by telling her about her 12 siblings, her mother, and how she lived a poor life. One day Martha sent Mary outside to play. In the garden she meet the gardener. He spoke to this robin as if it was a human. The robin seemed to understand the gardeners words as he spoke of Mary. Mary seemed to like the bird. They became good friends. One day Mary decided to find the "Secret Garden" the gardener spoke of. He said that her Aunt had died of a disease and when she died, her uncle locked up her garden that she had pampered all her life. It was full of roses and daffodils and in the spring it would always bloom beautifully. The bird knew exactly where Mary's Uncle buried the key because he had saw him bury it. The robin flew to the spot and pecked at the ground until Mary arrived. She picked up the key and knew what it was. She was as happy as can be. For the first time in her life, she was happy. One night, she meet her cousin. She did this by hearing crying in the night and following it. Both her and her cousin, Colin go through many adventures and together they make the magic of The Secret Garden come alive. And the spirit of his mother come alive while making roses bloom.
This story was heart warming and tear jerking. This book is for good readers, and one more piece of advice, have a box of tissue beside you.
Student Book Review:

Secret Garden, The



by: Frances H. Burnett

Review done by:Annie Gleba
Annie Gleba
Grade 6
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

The Secret Garden is a very good classic. It is about a girl named Mary, and her two friends, Dickon and Colin. The book takes place, first in India and then in Yorkshire England.
In the beginning, Mary is in India with her parents, but they don't really care about her so they hired a person to take care of her. One day, the person that takes care of her got sick and died. Her parents died too, so Mary was sent to England to live with her Uncle Craven.
At first, Mary didn't like it in England, until she found out that there was a secret garden that no one had been into for ten years. Mary then wanted to go outside every day to play and look for the key to the garden. When she found the key, she went in, and the garden was messy. Mary didn't know how to take care of the garden. The only thing she could do, was to clear away weeds to let the sun and rain in.
Mary's new servant was named Martha. Mary loved hearing stories about Martha's family, especially about Dickon. Every animal loved Dickon, and he knew what to do with plants. Mary thought that Dickon could get Mary some tools for the garden if she gave him the money. When Dickon came with the tools, Mary decided to tell him about the garden so that he could help her.
One night, Mary heard some strange crying and went to investigate it. What Mary found was more than just the wind like Martha said it was. It was a boy. At first, each child thought the other was a ghost. Mary found out that the boy's name was Colin, and that he couldn't walk because he was very sick. Mary also guessed that he was very lonely, so every day Colin requested her and she would go down to his room and keep him company.
I liked this book because it was full of good parts. It never had any boring parts in it. One good part was when Mary found the key to the garden. I liked that part because Mary had been looking for the key and she had finally found it. I also liked the part when Mary went into the garden with Dickon and they started to fix it up. That was a good part because the way the author described it made me feel like I was really in the garden. For example, the author was describing the garden when Mary first went into the garden as being over crowded and overgrown with plants. I could really imagine an overgrown garden. Then, when they had fixed it up, she described a beautiful garden with beautiful flowers and plants.
This book was very good, for a boy or a girl. If you can't read hard words, than you shouldn't read this book. The Secret Garden was a great book written by a great author and it's a book that you will be able to remember.
Secret Garden, The