Twenty-three vignettes present Nong, a ten-year-old girl living in present-day Thailand, and the characters of her village as they slowly make the transition from rural poverty to western modernization.
Fiction
Fiction genre
The Great Blue House
When its owners leave, a summer house comes alive with the sounds of a mouse nibbling crumbs in the fall, a cat taking shelter in the winter, and rain falling on the roof in the spring.
The Scarecrow And His Servant
A scarecrow and his boy servant, Jack, set off on a dangerous adventure as they try to outwit the crooked Buffaloni family and stake their claim to valuable Spring Valley.
Songs Of Papa’s Island
A mother tells her daughter a series of stories about life on Guam before the daughter was born and when she was a baby.
Our Secret, Siri Aang
Namelok, a Masai girl, tries to persuade her traditionalist father to delay her initiation and marriage because they will restrict her freedom and keep her from the black rhino mother and baby she is protecting from poachers.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 4
Aldabra, Or, The Tortoise Who Loved Shakespeare
In Venice, Italy, ten-year-old Elisa finds she must deal with all the unexpected consequences of her beloved eccentric grandmother’s transformation into a giant Aldabra tortoise, native to a small group of coral islands in the Seychelles.
The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips
When Boowie reads his grandmother’s diary, he learns of her childhood in World War II England when American and British soldiers practiced for D-Day’s invasion in the area of her home, and about her beloved cat, Adolphus Tip.
White Peak Farm
Teenage Jeannie unfolds the triumphs and tragedies of her close-knit family as they face violent changes on their isolated Derbyshire farm.
The Road To Mumbai
Shoba and her pet monkey, Fuzzy Patel, set out overnight by flying bed to attend Fuzzy’s cousin’s wonderful wedding in Mumbai, India.
It Happened At School: Two Tales
In the first of two school stories set in France, a homework assignment involving autographs excites Claudette’s class; in the second, the teacher’s boyfriend becomes a nuisance using the class’s new telephone/fax machine to express his love.