This month's book reviews

A haughty English girl in the Middle Ages
learns to live in the real world

Matilda had spent her childhood in the manor house of a wealthy family. A priest, Father Leufredus, had served as her mentor and teacher at the manor. Matilda had learned to read English as well as to speak and read Latin. She had been treated much like one of the family, dressed well, ate only the best of foods, and spent her time much as young girls of a noble family might have spent their time. Still, she was a poor orphan girl living off the charity of a wealthy family. The person who most influenced her thinking about the world was Father Leufredus. Her reading was about the lives of the saints and most of her conversations were about religion and the dangers of sin.

Matilda's easy and sheltered life was suddenly taken away from her. Father Leufredus was called to London by his superiors. He had to leave Matilda with someone who would help take care of her and teach her how to support herself. She was left with Peg the Bonesetter in Blood and Bone Alley. Matilda held on to the belief that the priest would return for her, eventually, and take her back to the comfortable life that she had experienced at the manor. But, truthfully, Father Leufredus had made no such promise.

Peg the Bonesetter was fat, loud, and very demanding. She expected Matilda to go to the market, buy food, and prepare meals for the both of them. She also expected Matilda to keep clean the dirt-floored combination shop and home that they lived in. Peg also made it clear that she Matilda was to learn how to set bones and help take care of the poor people who came to the shop with all kinds of injuries. Of course, Matilda was horrified. Such things were beneath her. After all, she could read and write and knew Latin - things that very few people in that era know how to do! But Peg only made fun of her learning. It had no practical use in the life Matilda now was forced to lead.

The reader of "Matilda Bone" finds out about life in the Middle Ages and, especially, about the practice of medicine at that time. This background information is picked up as we read about Matilda's struggle to find a place for herself in the real world. We, as well as Matilda, come to respect Peg for her knowledge and to love her as she helps Matilda live a much fuller and richer life.

 

"Buddy" wants to change more in her life
than just her name

Her name was really Amy Kate, but her dad had called her his "little buddy", so everybody called her "Buddy". Her mother had died when she was six. She lived with her dad and older brother, Bart. But her father lost his job and went to a neighboring town to look for work. He had disappeared, leaving Buddy and Bart alone to fend for themselves. They lived in a car for a few days after being put out of their rented home. Finally, Bart insisted Buddy go to Haysville to stay with their only relatives, while he went to look for their dad.

Buddy knew that for some reason her mother and dad had not had much to do with the relatives in Haysville. When she arrived to stay with them, she sensed that her aunts were resentful of Buddy's dad, and especially her deceased mom. Why? Buddy was determined to find out. Meanwhile, she had to try to get by in a strange town, a new school and in a home with resentful relatives.

Buddy was shocked to find out that her aunts thought that her mother had taken money from the family when she ran off to marry the young man who was now Buddy's father. Buddy knew that her mother would have never stolen money, but could she prove it? Would Bart find her dad? Would her father be alive? Would she ever feel like she had a real family again?

"Buddy is a Stupid name for a Girl" is a little bit like a grown-up soap opera, except that the main character is a preteen girl. With all the troubles that Buddy has, it's hard to believe that it can all work out to a happy ending. At the end, she is Amy Kate and no longer Buddy.

 

Yes, there is a good kid's book
about roller hockey

Kirby Childs is thirteen-years-old and small for his age. The good news is that he is an excellent skater on both ice skates and roller blades. The bad news is that his parents have moved to a new town where Kirby doesn't know a single person. Kirby also knows that, because he is their only child, his parents tend to be overly protective and are always afraid that he's going to get hurt. As a small guy, Kirby knows what it is to be pushed around by bigger guys, but he doesn't say much to his parents about that.

While he is out exploring his new hometown on his bike, Kirby runs into some kids playing roller hockey. They are about his age. The trouble is they are playing in the street, and the street is more than two miles from where he lives. Still, the kids seem fairly friendly and interested in giving him a chance to play roller hockey with them. They gave him a much better reception than some bullies he had met a few streets away on Bates Avenue.

Kirby's parents reluctantly give him permission to go skate with the E Street Skates, the name of the group that he met. The E Street Skates are practicing for a game against the Bates Avenue Bad Boys. Kirby realizes these are the guys that had made fun of him and chased him off when he was exploring on his bike. He knows his parents are going to forbid him to play against a bunch of bullies who don't play by the rules. But he desperately wants to play with his friends and try to beat the Bad Boys when they play a real game.

Kirby has to show his new friends that he can be a good enough player to help them win. He has to convince his parents that playing in the street isn't as dangerous as they think it is, and that he can play with bigger guys and not get hurt. You have to read the book to find out how he does it. There is plenty of roller hockey action to keep you interested.

 

If the Prince does something bad,
should a servant get his punishment?

The King's son, Prince Horace, misbehaves so much, that the people around him call him "Prince Brat." But since he is a prince, he can't be punished. Jemmy, a poor orphan boy from the streets of an unnamed big city (possibly London) is brought to live in the palace to be the "whipping boy" for the Prince. The Prince, because of his mean behavior, is the cause of Jemmy's receiving frequent whippings. Even though he is given nice clothes and has much better food to eat than he had on the streets, Jemmy wants to run away and regain his freedom.

To Jemmy's astonishment, Prince Horace insists that Jemmy help him run away and live on the streets with him. The story then is concerned with how these two boys try to survive on their own in a fictional London of about the 16th century. Their problems are complicated by the Prince's behavior - he still insists that he be treated as the King's son, even though nobody believes him. The two boys are in real trouble when they are captured by a couple of cutthroats who find out that one of them is the King's son.

"The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleishman is a short paperback of only 90 pages. It tells you a little bit about how people lived in England in a period about a hundred years after Columbus discovered America. Most of all, though, it tells an exciting adventure story about two boys of very different backgrounds, one a royal prince and one a poor orphan, who finally become friends.