Kind Cinderella lives luxuriously in a castle after enduring her hardships obediently. Gentle Snow White gets saved by the dashing prince because of her sweet personality. Loving Sleeping Beauty wakes up from her slumber with a single kiss. Characters in these cherished fairy tales we’ve grown up with always end up with their dreams being fulfilled—if they’ve been virtuous. Then what explains what happens to the girls in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott? Little Women documents the growth of four very different sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—from childhood to womanhood. Each sister symbolizes a distinct type of personality, but how they end up in life doesn’t match readers’ initial expectations. By steering us away from our preconceptions, Alcott accurately depicts what life is really like: sometimes unfair and cruel, yet undeniably satisfying. From Alcott, I learned to accept that “happily ever after” doesn’t exist, nor is it ultimately gratifying. My mom had recommended this book to me, but I was hesitant to read it because the story of four girls didn’t initially intrigue me. However, after learning that Alcott’s father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was a friend of Emerson’s and a leader in the transcendentalist movement of the time, I decided to try it. How might Alcott’s feminine perspective of this period add to my understanding? I soon became lost in the intriguing plot which takes place during the Civil War and realized that this novel offers so much more than I had anticipated. The hardship the characters had to endure during this difficult period in American life and the complex moral message for women of all ages have had a lasting impact on me. Though they grew up in the same household, the sisters are all quite different and each is sharply drawn. Meg dreams of ending up in the lap of luxury, but is eventually content with something quite the opposite. Jo, a classic tomboy, learns to balance her literary ambitions with tenderness. Beth, an ever dutiful daughter, willingly resides at her cozy home without any further aspirations, while Amy grows from a pampered little girl to an ardent artist. My two favorite characters are Jo and Amy, despite the fact that they are opposites. Both are ambitious girls, but Amy’s graceful manners are what society valued in a woman at the time, while Jo’s headstrong spirit is often questioned. Even though frivolous Amy almost always winds up better off than Jo, Alcott twists our expectations to ensure that each girl ends up content in her own way. It’s a harsh truth that practicality sometimes wins out over idealism and that being virtuous doesn’t ensure a happy ending. Through this moving story, Alcott steers us away from our childish fairy-tale beliefs to a more mature understanding of joy and suffering. Ultimately, Alcott portrays women as happiest when pursuing their own unique path in life. As Jo explains, we must find “the key to [our] castle in the air” and accept that “whether [we] can unlock the door remains to be seen.” I highly recommend this book to any girl struggling with growing up in a complex world. Little Women offers insight into conventional gender stereotypes and leaves us with important moral issues to think about. This makes it a novel for all readers. In the end, we must ask ourselves: what truly is “happily ever after”? Does it even exist? Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Roberts Brothers, 1968. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Book Reviews
The Mysterious Benedict Society, Reviewed by Nora, 13
Would you say you are a gifted child? Your gift does not have to be in school, you could be a gifted soccer player, a gifted dancer, or even a gifted Rubik’s Cube solver. Reynie Muldoon is a very gifted child, though on the surface he seems perfectly average. He has average hair, average clothes, and average skin. But his mind is far above average, and he loves to read and solve puzzles. If Reynie had an average family, his life might have been much different than it turned out to be. But Reynie is an orphan, with a private tutor named Miss Perumal. If he was not at the orphanage, Reynie might have been able to attend a prestigious school, earn college credits, and go to a renowned college. But then, if he had grown up in an average family, he never would have become part of the Mysterious Benedict Society. The whole tale begins when an advertisement appears in the paper. It is directed to gifted children looking for special opportunities, and it gives directions for how to take a specific test. If the child passes the test, they will get special opportunities. Miss Perumal encourages Reynie to take the test, and he agrees. After the test, he is the only child who passes in his group, and he is told that he must go on to phase two of the test. The exact same thing happens after phase two. He is the only one in his group that passes, and he must go on to phase three. Just before phase three, he meets the three other children who managed to pass the test: Sticky Washington, Kate Wetheral, and Constance Contraire. Sticky seems to be the brightest boy Reynie has ever met, with a perfect memory of everything he ever read or saw. Kate may not have astounding academic abilities, but she was once in the circus, and she is an old hand at walking on her hands, balancing across a tightrope, and all other types of acrobatics. Then there’s Constance, a grumpy poet who seems as though she will be the weak link in their group—until she turns out to be the most key player. Each of the children are somewhat peculiar in their own way, but Reynie likes all of them, and he feels that—given the chance—the four of them could be quite good friends. It turns out that they will be given that chance, though not in the way that they expected. Because the man behind the tests and the advertisement in the paper, a man named Mr. Benedict, has a very important mission that must be done quickly. And it just so happens that Reynie, Sticky, Constance, and Kate are the only people able to complete the mission. So, the children form their secret agent group, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and the mission begins. They must communicate with Mr. Benedict in the dead of night, using morse code, flashlights, and riddles. But as they get closer and closer to answers, they begin to wonder if they are too late to stop what must come? The Mysterious Benedict Society is gripping from cover to cover. The mystery unfolds slowly, but not so slowly that the book is boring. The characters come to life upon the pages, and their relationships are both well thought out and often hilarious (especially in the case of a certain Miss Contraire). I loved this book from the moment I picked it up, and I have since returned to it many times. It’s one of those books that is wonderful the first time you read it, but even better the second, third, and fourth times because you notice things that you missed the first time. I would recommend The Mysterious Benedict Society to almost anyone. Some people think the beginning is boring, but I would encourage you to read through, because it just gets better. The characters, plot, and theme are so rich and well thought out that it makes the story one to come back to time and time again. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2008. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Reflection: A Twisted Tale, Reviewed by Pragnya, 13
In 1998, Disney released the animated film Mulan, a musical set in Han China that centers around Fa Mulan, an ambitious girl from a traditional family who takes her father’s place to join the Imperial Army by disguising herself as a boy. With stellar musical renditions and a vivid storyline, Mulan had always been one of my favorites. When I went into Reflection, expecting fresh characterization and an entrancing plot, I was treated to that and then some. Reflection, part of the Twisted Tale series where classic Disney movies are reimagined with major plot points undergoing unexpected twists, is a sharp, lyrical novel where Fa Mulan, the protagonist, has to travel to the underworld to save her captain from permanent death. In the middle of a battle, Mulan, sparked by an idea that has the potential to save her warriors turned friends and the entirety of China from the Huns, decides to risk everything and light a cannon that could cause an avalanche. However, in the process of trying to save her from the oncoming avalanche, Captain Shang gets fatally injured by Shan Yu and makes his way to Diyu, the underworld. In order to return the favor, Mulan, disguised as Fa Ping, a boy whose identity she made up to get into the ranks of the army, travels to the underworld. As she makes her way through Diyu, she struggles with identity and first love, fighting spirit demons as she races against the clock to save Shang and escape the underworld before sunrise. With the help of ShiShi, the Li family guardian, and the ghost of Li Shang’s father, she faces obstacle after obstacle with determination and valour, but time slips away fast in Diyu and everyone seems to be out to stop them. Will Mulan be able to save Captain Shang in time or will it be too late? One of the things that stood out to me in this book was the world-building and vivid descriptions. In the original movie, the setting drew from most of its historical aspects, but in this reimagining the setting takes inspiration from Chinese mythology and folklore, along with an authentic historical representation of 15th century China, to create a surreal world for us to fall into. With fast-paced, simple yet intense prose, Lim creates a tension with every line on the page. The characters blend well into the style, with distinct personalities and internal conflict that adds another level of characterization into the plot. I especially enjoyed how the protagonist, whose personal struggles dealt with themes like family, loyalty, gender norms and purpose, felt extremely relatable to myself, which is why I recommend it to anyone in search of a book with a strong female protagonist. Reflection is a book whose story I will think about for a long time. Reflection: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim. Disney-Hyperion, 2019. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
