Little Men & Jo's Boys (Wordsworth Children's Classics)

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I like a fiddle best; I can play one too,” said Nat, getting confidential on this attractive subject.

Matteson, John (2007). ). Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-33359-6.PLEASE, SIR, IS THIS PLUMFIELD?” asked a ragged boy of the man who opened the great gate at which the omnibus left him. This argument is far from original; lambasting public schools for tormenting their inmates and ruining the country is one of Britain’s oldest traditions. (In England and Wales private schools are confusingly known as “public schools”; they themselves prefer “independent schools”.) Thomas Macaulay, a Victorian historian and politician, avoided them after a family friend told his mother that “throwing boys headlong into those great public schools always puts me in mind of the practice of the Scythian mothers, who threw their new-born infants into the river.” Can you?” and Tommy stared over the rim of his mug with round eyes, full of interest. “Mr. Bhaer’s got an old fiddle, and he’ll let you play on it if you want to.” I assumed this was going to be primarily a book of political analysis, with the context of Private School Boarding. Whilst it does have lots of this, it also has a slight memoir feel to it. Not just in Beard’s personal experiences of Boarding School, but in his time researching/writing this book. Although his personal experiences of Boarding School provided vital supporting evidence, I felt the rest of his present-day ruminations were written almost defensively. At times feeling like that meme of the two Spider-Men pointing at each other (as is often the case with any sort of privileged person defending their privilege, whilst simultaneously distancing themselves from it). Yet, his points are valid, and the system can only change if those who have been through it break it. Which he is clearly trying to do. Spirited Jo March, now Mrs Bhaer, has settled into living and teaching at Plumfield boarding school, also home to a lively band of orphan boys. Jo’s many pupils include Nat, a shy but talented musician, Dan, an ill-mannered troublemaker and Tommy Bangs, the school’s mischievous class clown. Despite the troubles and scrapes that come with adolescent life, the lessons of kindness and gratitude taught at Plumfield prove to have a profound impact on each child.

I don’t want to run away, ma’am.” And Nat spread his grimy little hands before the comfortable blaze, with a long sigh of satisfaction. Richard Beard’s six novels include Lazarus is Dead, Dry Bones and Damascus, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. In the UK he has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and longlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award. His latest novel Acts of the Assassins was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize in 2015. He is also the author of four books of narrative non-fiction, including his 2017 memoir The Day That Went Missing. Formerly Director of The National Academy of Writing in London, he is a Visiting Professor (2016/17) at the University of Tokyo, and has a Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia. In 2017 he is a juror for Canada’s Scotiabank Giller Prize. Beard is also an occasional contributor to the Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Financial Times, Prospect and The Nightwatchman.

Guess I won’t, till I see whether I’m going to stay or not,” returned Nat, feeling the desire to stay increase every moment. Now, my lad, give us a little tune. We want a violin in our band, and I think you will do it nicely.” Speicher, Allison. "A Space for Science: Science Education and the Domestic in Louisa May Alcott's Little Men". Galileo. Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas. Retrieved 7 February 2020. Miss Jo March, the beloved character from Little Women—now Mrs. Jo Bhaer—fills her home at Plumfield with boys in need of guidance, an education, and, above all, affection. The children are full of mischievous and amusing lards in each chapter. Discover with the Plumfield household how, despite some disastrous events, “love is a flower that grows in any soil [and] works its sweet miracles undaunted by autumn frost or winter snow.” Cheever, Susan (2011). Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1416569923.