To make our family favorite treat, follow the recipe below. :)
3 cups rolled oats.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.
1 teaspoon baking soda.
1 teaspoon salt.
1 cup butter {we never use margarine but you can}.
2 cups brown sugar {downsize half a cup or more if that's too much, we usually do}.
2 eggs.
4 teaspoons vanilla extract.
1 14-ounce {1 1/3 cups} sweetened condensed milk {now you know why we downsize the sugar}.
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate pieces {known as chips at our house}.
2 tablespoons butter.
1/2 cup chopped walnuts {we sometimes don't have these on hand}.
Now there are two ways to make this: you can make it like the recipe says or you can make it like a cookie which is how I tend to make everything {DON'T make a cake like a cookie, it doesn't turn out right}. The recipe says to combine the dry ingredients {oats, flour, soda and salt} into a bowl while in a different bowl beat the cup of butter for 30 seconds then add the eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla, beat well. Stir in the dry stuff and mix till combined then in a saucepan heat together the condensed milk, the chocolate, 2 tablespoons butter and half a teaspoon over low heat, stirring till smooth then remove form the heat and add in the walnuts and remaining 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Right about here is when we turn our oven on at 350 degrees {remember to check it for lost toys and packages of sugar set in there to dry out}. Pat two thirds of the oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan {or the biggest you got, also try sticking a piece of parchment paper down, works great!} then spread the chocolate mixture over that and dot remaining oat mixture over that {its not suppose to cover all the chocolate up so don't panic}. Stick it in the warm oven for 25 to 30 minutes then cool on a wire rack and cut into bars {note: the oat mixture should be kinda golden-brown on top like a cookie when it's done}. The recipe says it makes 72 pieces but that's not the case at our house as it never gets cut evenly. Who's counting anyway? :) Enjoy!!
Note: If you use dark chocolate pieces then it'll be really chocolaty and it might not do to give any to younger siblings or children right before bedtime or in the mornings before breakfast. :)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Out on the Pampas Book Review.
Title: Out on the Pampas.
Author: G. A. Henty.
Gene: Historical Fiction, Action/Adventure, Classic.
Plot: This book opens with a conversation between Mr. Frank Hardy and his wife Clara concerning their sons Charley {age fifteen} and Hubert {age fourteen} and what to do about a profession for them as they get older. Mr. Hardy spent several years as a young man roughing it in America and therefore it comes as no surprise to us or his wife that he suggests the family emigrate to the Argentine Republic; his wife, being a woman, is loath to go but after some discussion in private between the two it is decided that this would be the best course for both their two sons and their two daughters, Maud {age twelve} and Ethel {age eleven}. At breakfast shortly after this decision is made Mr. Hardy announces it to their children who react in rather amusing fashion, or at least the boys do as they promptly say how they can’t wait to join in an Indian fight, the girls are more subdued and quietly expression their willingness to work hard in their new home.
Calming the children {and Hubert’s intense excitement} Mr. Hardy runs through the list of preparatory work they’ve got to do before they can leave in eight to nine months’ time and most of this is directed at the boys who, we learn, are to cease studying Latin and take up Spanish instead while also learning carpentering, gardening, farming, riding and shooting while Mrs. Hardy tells the girls they are to give up piano and study Spanish, riding, housekeeping and cooking, later on they also learn to manage a dairy and a poultry yard. A year goes swiftly by in which the family becomes fluent at Spanish and gain new skills while the boys discover that they’re stronger than several schoolfellows one day from all the hard work they’ve been doing. The family sells most of their furniture and close up the house before taking a ship across the sea to South America {the children are seasick during the voyage unfortunately}.
Upon arriving they stay at an old friend of theirs who’d emigrated before Hubert had been born and, leaving Mrs. Hardy and her girls with Mr. Thompson and his family, Mr. Hardy and his sons travel ahead to the plot of land they intend to settle upon and meet with Mr. Percy who is a friend of Mr. Thompson’s and who has gone ahead and rounded up some hired hands, including an American named Seth who grows fond of the children before heading back to the States. Galloping ahead of the others Charley takes a tumble when his horse steps into an armadillo hole just as his father warns him to be careful, he is unharmed but gets a good lesson about what happens to people when they’re still self-confident.
Work on the young farm begins right away and when it’s fairly underway Mr. Hardy heads into town to get more wood and bring up the livestock, leaving his boys in charge in his absence and they, with the hired hands, set to work in making bricks with which they shall build the farmhouse and Charley has a narrow escape from being bitten by a very poisonous snake that Hubert kills just before their father comes back. Construction of the house is begun and swiftly got through after this and when it is finished Mr. Hardy leaves to bring his wife and daughters {who’ve learned how to manage a dairy in his absence} up while his boys build sturdy furniture to fill the house with, save for bedsteads as Mr. Hardy brings back iron bedsteads from town. The family comfortably settles down in their new home and begin to cultivate the land and raise poultry and livestock; the girls have charge of the former though are forced to bring in their brothers to reduce the number of skunks who’re messing around in the chicken coops while the boys and the hired hands have charge of the livestock. The boys also take care of the hunting though are joined in this by their sisters after their father teaches them to shoot and the girls get a fine dairy up and running.
Visits with their neighbors are recounted and we’re introduced to young Mr. Cooper, an Englishman, who lives practically next door with two other young Englishmen, all of who become great friends of the Hardy children, but also during this time preparations for a possible Indian attack are made and just in time too for two weeks later an actual attack takes place. The Indians swoop down and kill two hired hands before riding off with all the livestock. Mr. Hardy was visiting the neighbors but gets home not half an hour after this happens and rides out after the Indians with his sons in hopes of recovering their stolen property. They succeed in dramatic style that rather awes their neighbors and hired hands when they return with the livestock. A calm then follows in which the Hardy family works hard at their rapidly growing farm and take in a young friend from England who wants to learn the trade, all this time they’ve been in their new home for two years and the change in the children is very noticeable and dramatic. Another Indian attack is recounted in which Hubert barely escapes with his life while Maud and Ethel shoot two Indians hot on his tail, Charley gets the third and then the family defends their strongly fortified home from a full-blown attack. Three wounded Indians are found the next day and are nursed back to health, this act of kindness earns them those Indians’ friendship for the rest of their stay in South America.
Two more years pass with no Indian attacks and more new neighbors arriving; a trip home to England is planned for Mrs. Hardy and the girls and Mr. Hardy is surprised to learn that Mr. Cooper {soon to return to England himself} loves his seventeen year old daughter Maud who returns the affection. The planned trip and everything else is put on hold indefinitely shortly after Mr. Cooper leaves by a surprise attack upon a neighbor’s farm where Ethel is visiting and Ethel is captured by the Indians. A rescue party is promptly gathered together which, a day after setting out, has to fight off a fire intentionally set by the Indians to throw them off the trail but one of the Indians who they befriended leaves an arrow and a piece of Ethel’s dress behind, pointing them in the right direction and in fine style characteristic to Henty’s novels the girl is rescued and taken back home, the Indians never attack the settlers again after that. The Hardy women are then sent home to England and two years later Mr. Hardy joins them, leaving his twenty-something sons in charge of the thriving farm. A year or so later after all the grown-up Hardy children have married their respective spouses the farm is divided up and sold, the Hardy children all settle down in England and Mr. and Mrs. Hardy amuse their many grandchildren with tales “of how their fathers or mothers fought the Indians on the pampas of South America.”
Likes/Dislikes: This is a very good book and though it doesn’t tell of a major {or minor} historical battle as many of Mr. Henty’s other books do, it does give an accurate account of emigration in that time period. I should mention that blood is mentioned in the fights and two Indians are described as having their brains blow out by the furious Hardy boys when their father is temporally unconscious but beyond this nothing inappropriate is to be found in this book.
Rating: PG-12 and up mainly because of the higher reading level.
Date Report Written: January 29, 2010.
Author: G. A. Henty.
Gene: Historical Fiction, Action/Adventure, Classic.
Plot: This book opens with a conversation between Mr. Frank Hardy and his wife Clara concerning their sons Charley {age fifteen} and Hubert {age fourteen} and what to do about a profession for them as they get older. Mr. Hardy spent several years as a young man roughing it in America and therefore it comes as no surprise to us or his wife that he suggests the family emigrate to the Argentine Republic; his wife, being a woman, is loath to go but after some discussion in private between the two it is decided that this would be the best course for both their two sons and their two daughters, Maud {age twelve} and Ethel {age eleven}. At breakfast shortly after this decision is made Mr. Hardy announces it to their children who react in rather amusing fashion, or at least the boys do as they promptly say how they can’t wait to join in an Indian fight, the girls are more subdued and quietly expression their willingness to work hard in their new home.
Calming the children {and Hubert’s intense excitement} Mr. Hardy runs through the list of preparatory work they’ve got to do before they can leave in eight to nine months’ time and most of this is directed at the boys who, we learn, are to cease studying Latin and take up Spanish instead while also learning carpentering, gardening, farming, riding and shooting while Mrs. Hardy tells the girls they are to give up piano and study Spanish, riding, housekeeping and cooking, later on they also learn to manage a dairy and a poultry yard. A year goes swiftly by in which the family becomes fluent at Spanish and gain new skills while the boys discover that they’re stronger than several schoolfellows one day from all the hard work they’ve been doing. The family sells most of their furniture and close up the house before taking a ship across the sea to South America {the children are seasick during the voyage unfortunately}.
Upon arriving they stay at an old friend of theirs who’d emigrated before Hubert had been born and, leaving Mrs. Hardy and her girls with Mr. Thompson and his family, Mr. Hardy and his sons travel ahead to the plot of land they intend to settle upon and meet with Mr. Percy who is a friend of Mr. Thompson’s and who has gone ahead and rounded up some hired hands, including an American named Seth who grows fond of the children before heading back to the States. Galloping ahead of the others Charley takes a tumble when his horse steps into an armadillo hole just as his father warns him to be careful, he is unharmed but gets a good lesson about what happens to people when they’re still self-confident.
Work on the young farm begins right away and when it’s fairly underway Mr. Hardy heads into town to get more wood and bring up the livestock, leaving his boys in charge in his absence and they, with the hired hands, set to work in making bricks with which they shall build the farmhouse and Charley has a narrow escape from being bitten by a very poisonous snake that Hubert kills just before their father comes back. Construction of the house is begun and swiftly got through after this and when it is finished Mr. Hardy leaves to bring his wife and daughters {who’ve learned how to manage a dairy in his absence} up while his boys build sturdy furniture to fill the house with, save for bedsteads as Mr. Hardy brings back iron bedsteads from town. The family comfortably settles down in their new home and begin to cultivate the land and raise poultry and livestock; the girls have charge of the former though are forced to bring in their brothers to reduce the number of skunks who’re messing around in the chicken coops while the boys and the hired hands have charge of the livestock. The boys also take care of the hunting though are joined in this by their sisters after their father teaches them to shoot and the girls get a fine dairy up and running.
Visits with their neighbors are recounted and we’re introduced to young Mr. Cooper, an Englishman, who lives practically next door with two other young Englishmen, all of who become great friends of the Hardy children, but also during this time preparations for a possible Indian attack are made and just in time too for two weeks later an actual attack takes place. The Indians swoop down and kill two hired hands before riding off with all the livestock. Mr. Hardy was visiting the neighbors but gets home not half an hour after this happens and rides out after the Indians with his sons in hopes of recovering their stolen property. They succeed in dramatic style that rather awes their neighbors and hired hands when they return with the livestock. A calm then follows in which the Hardy family works hard at their rapidly growing farm and take in a young friend from England who wants to learn the trade, all this time they’ve been in their new home for two years and the change in the children is very noticeable and dramatic. Another Indian attack is recounted in which Hubert barely escapes with his life while Maud and Ethel shoot two Indians hot on his tail, Charley gets the third and then the family defends their strongly fortified home from a full-blown attack. Three wounded Indians are found the next day and are nursed back to health, this act of kindness earns them those Indians’ friendship for the rest of their stay in South America.
Two more years pass with no Indian attacks and more new neighbors arriving; a trip home to England is planned for Mrs. Hardy and the girls and Mr. Hardy is surprised to learn that Mr. Cooper {soon to return to England himself} loves his seventeen year old daughter Maud who returns the affection. The planned trip and everything else is put on hold indefinitely shortly after Mr. Cooper leaves by a surprise attack upon a neighbor’s farm where Ethel is visiting and Ethel is captured by the Indians. A rescue party is promptly gathered together which, a day after setting out, has to fight off a fire intentionally set by the Indians to throw them off the trail but one of the Indians who they befriended leaves an arrow and a piece of Ethel’s dress behind, pointing them in the right direction and in fine style characteristic to Henty’s novels the girl is rescued and taken back home, the Indians never attack the settlers again after that. The Hardy women are then sent home to England and two years later Mr. Hardy joins them, leaving his twenty-something sons in charge of the thriving farm. A year or so later after all the grown-up Hardy children have married their respective spouses the farm is divided up and sold, the Hardy children all settle down in England and Mr. and Mrs. Hardy amuse their many grandchildren with tales “of how their fathers or mothers fought the Indians on the pampas of South America.”
Likes/Dislikes: This is a very good book and though it doesn’t tell of a major {or minor} historical battle as many of Mr. Henty’s other books do, it does give an accurate account of emigration in that time period. I should mention that blood is mentioned in the fights and two Indians are described as having their brains blow out by the furious Hardy boys when their father is temporally unconscious but beyond this nothing inappropriate is to be found in this book.
Rating: PG-12 and up mainly because of the higher reading level.
Date Report Written: January 29, 2010.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Out of Time.
Well, I'm out of online time today so I can't post my book review but don't worry, I'll post it next week for ya! :)
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Jurassic Park 3 Movie Review.
Title: Jurassic Park 3.Gene: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction, Horror.Starring: Sam Neill as Gr. Alan Grant, Alessandro Nivola as Billy, William H. Macy as Paul Kirby, Tea Leoni as Amanda Kirby and Trevor Morgan as Eric Kirby.Plot: A wealthy couple approach a paleontologist with a large check to accompany them on a tour of Isla Sorna, in need of the money Dr. Alan Grant accepts and takes along his paleontologist buddy young Billy who, when not digging up dinosaurs or making plastic replicas of raptor bones, spends his time paragliding. Dr. Grant gets his first sense of danger when the group is circling over the island and when he regains consciousness the small plane has landed on the island and Amanda Kirby is a little ways off calling for someone named Eric with a blow-horn, Dr. Grant tells her to stop while the three hired guns suddenly start shooting at something in the trees. Turning coward two of the hired guns rush back to the plane and prepare to take off with everyone on board save the third man who runs out into the middle of the runway and before the pilots can stop or do anything a large carnivorous dinosaur runs across the the plane's path and crunches the man while the plane prematurely lifts off then crashes among the trees. The stunned passengers then try to figure out what to do next but before a decision the dinosaur comes back, rips the nose off the plane and eats one of the pilots before rolling and kicking the beat up plane wreckage around in a vain attempt at getting the other five people.
When the dinosaur is distracted they sprint away through the forest and meet a T-Rex who fights the other dinosaur and loses. The dinosaur being thoroughly distracted the humans get away and return to the wreckage of their plane where they gear up. It is then revealed that Paul and Amanda {who are divorced} are there on the island looking for their lost twelve year old son Eric who disappeared near it two months ago. Dr. Grant also figures out that they're not wealthy which means that the check they gave him is useless but this is a small matter as they follow his experienced advice and start heading for the coast. Along the way they come across a parachute all tangled up in the branches of a tree and from the camcorder learn that Eric is alive, but the body of the step-father is found still in the harness of the parachute when Billy and Dr. Grant go to take it down. Amanda freaks out and tells Paul that she's afraid for their son, when the other three catch up with Paul and Amanda they find a raptor nest and Dr. Grant instantly leads them away but not before Billy has the chance to steal two of the eggs.
Still making their way toward the coast they stop at the ruined building in the center of the island and break into a vending machine to get some food before making their way to the hatchery. Here Amanda says, "Is this how you make dinosaurs?" Dr. Grant replies, "No, this is how you play God." Another exciting scene follows in the form of a small herd of raptors who attack the humans and kill the last of the hired guns, while Billy and the Kirby couple escape into the trees Dr. Grant is rescued by Eric and during the overnight stay in the latter's hide-out the two become good friends. The five survivors are reunited in the morning while both parties are making their way toward the coast and the dinosaur from the beginning of the movie chases them to the river where they unknowingly enter a giant birdcage for nasty pterodactyls who viciously attack the humans, one succeeding in carrying Eric to it's nest where he fends off half a dozen hungry baby birds while the others frantically try to escape the bird chasing them and rescue him at the same time. Just a few minutes before all this had happened Billy had told Dr. Grant that he'd stolen the eggs and Dr. Grant had said that he was "as bad as the people who built this place." With one dramatic exchange of meaningful glances Grant instantly knows what Billy is gonna do just seconds before he leaps out of the metal structure and pulls the strings on his borrowed parachute, gliding off among the flying prehistoric creatures to go rescue Eric.
Yelling a short command to Eric to jump Billy succeeds in his wild rescue attempt but moments later his parachute gets a rip in it and he tells Eric to jump just minutes before he slams into the high canyon walls while Eric and the others all at once end up in the water. Eric scrambles out onto the bank and his mother whisks him away to safety at the same moment that Grant and Paul rush knee-deep back into the river to rescue Billy who is by now in the river and being attacked by the birds. He yells at them to stay away and is carried by the current downriver with half a dozen birds hovering over pecking at him. Swimming under the wall of the birdcage the humans escape and float peacefully down the river in a boat they found, at nightfall they hear the cell phone ringing and leap to the riverbank to dig through steaming piles of dinosaur dung before finding the phone, they wash their gross hands and continue on down the river. Grant calls his good friend Ellie just as they are attacked for the last time by the same naughty dinosaur and he barely has time to tell her to send help before they're all plunged into the river. Escaping first Paul distracts the dinosaur and then Grant shoots a flair which lights the spilled gas on fire, effectively saving their lives and scaring off the beast.
When they're almost at the coast the raptors come back and Amanda gives the eggs back, Dr. Grant finds Billy's replica of the raptor bone he made at the beginning of the movie and blows through it, calling for help in raptor language. With relief they finely reach the beach and discover that Ellie sent a small army to help them out, mounting the helicopter Dr. Grant is directed toward the back of it and sees a beat-up Billy lying strapped down with bandages all over him, being men they keep their words few and Billy hands Grant his Indiana-Jones style hat which he'd rescued. The thoroughly worn out group then head home.Likes/Dislikes: While the survivors are back at the wrecked plane gearing up Amanda and Paul change into clothes more suited to hiking through the jungle and Amanda is shown in her bra while Paul is shown shirtless but nothing else inappropriate is shown or hinted at during the rest of the movie and there's no foul language that I recall. There is, however, a good amount of blood shown and it's suppose to be a horror because of the music {or so my mother says} but my siblings {ages fifteen to ten} and I didn't seem to notice this as we were too busy laughing and enjoying a good adventure movie.Rating: PG-13 and I'm inclined to agree with it though if the reader can't stand the sight of blood or having robotic dinosaurs chase the people around then I recommend you not watch this but other than that it's a very good movie.Date Report Written: January 22, 2010.
When the dinosaur is distracted they sprint away through the forest and meet a T-Rex who fights the other dinosaur and loses. The dinosaur being thoroughly distracted the humans get away and return to the wreckage of their plane where they gear up. It is then revealed that Paul and Amanda {who are divorced} are there on the island looking for their lost twelve year old son Eric who disappeared near it two months ago. Dr. Grant also figures out that they're not wealthy which means that the check they gave him is useless but this is a small matter as they follow his experienced advice and start heading for the coast. Along the way they come across a parachute all tangled up in the branches of a tree and from the camcorder learn that Eric is alive, but the body of the step-father is found still in the harness of the parachute when Billy and Dr. Grant go to take it down. Amanda freaks out and tells Paul that she's afraid for their son, when the other three catch up with Paul and Amanda they find a raptor nest and Dr. Grant instantly leads them away but not before Billy has the chance to steal two of the eggs.
Still making their way toward the coast they stop at the ruined building in the center of the island and break into a vending machine to get some food before making their way to the hatchery. Here Amanda says, "Is this how you make dinosaurs?" Dr. Grant replies, "No, this is how you play God." Another exciting scene follows in the form of a small herd of raptors who attack the humans and kill the last of the hired guns, while Billy and the Kirby couple escape into the trees Dr. Grant is rescued by Eric and during the overnight stay in the latter's hide-out the two become good friends. The five survivors are reunited in the morning while both parties are making their way toward the coast and the dinosaur from the beginning of the movie chases them to the river where they unknowingly enter a giant birdcage for nasty pterodactyls who viciously attack the humans, one succeeding in carrying Eric to it's nest where he fends off half a dozen hungry baby birds while the others frantically try to escape the bird chasing them and rescue him at the same time. Just a few minutes before all this had happened Billy had told Dr. Grant that he'd stolen the eggs and Dr. Grant had said that he was "as bad as the people who built this place." With one dramatic exchange of meaningful glances Grant instantly knows what Billy is gonna do just seconds before he leaps out of the metal structure and pulls the strings on his borrowed parachute, gliding off among the flying prehistoric creatures to go rescue Eric.
Yelling a short command to Eric to jump Billy succeeds in his wild rescue attempt but moments later his parachute gets a rip in it and he tells Eric to jump just minutes before he slams into the high canyon walls while Eric and the others all at once end up in the water. Eric scrambles out onto the bank and his mother whisks him away to safety at the same moment that Grant and Paul rush knee-deep back into the river to rescue Billy who is by now in the river and being attacked by the birds. He yells at them to stay away and is carried by the current downriver with half a dozen birds hovering over pecking at him. Swimming under the wall of the birdcage the humans escape and float peacefully down the river in a boat they found, at nightfall they hear the cell phone ringing and leap to the riverbank to dig through steaming piles of dinosaur dung before finding the phone, they wash their gross hands and continue on down the river. Grant calls his good friend Ellie just as they are attacked for the last time by the same naughty dinosaur and he barely has time to tell her to send help before they're all plunged into the river. Escaping first Paul distracts the dinosaur and then Grant shoots a flair which lights the spilled gas on fire, effectively saving their lives and scaring off the beast.
When they're almost at the coast the raptors come back and Amanda gives the eggs back, Dr. Grant finds Billy's replica of the raptor bone he made at the beginning of the movie and blows through it, calling for help in raptor language. With relief they finely reach the beach and discover that Ellie sent a small army to help them out, mounting the helicopter Dr. Grant is directed toward the back of it and sees a beat-up Billy lying strapped down with bandages all over him, being men they keep their words few and Billy hands Grant his Indiana-Jones style hat which he'd rescued. The thoroughly worn out group then head home.Likes/Dislikes: While the survivors are back at the wrecked plane gearing up Amanda and Paul change into clothes more suited to hiking through the jungle and Amanda is shown in her bra while Paul is shown shirtless but nothing else inappropriate is shown or hinted at during the rest of the movie and there's no foul language that I recall. There is, however, a good amount of blood shown and it's suppose to be a horror because of the music {or so my mother says} but my siblings {ages fifteen to ten} and I didn't seem to notice this as we were too busy laughing and enjoying a good adventure movie.Rating: PG-13 and I'm inclined to agree with it though if the reader can't stand the sight of blood or having robotic dinosaurs chase the people around then I recommend you not watch this but other than that it's a very good movie.Date Report Written: January 22, 2010.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
A Knight of the White Cross Book Review.
Title: A Knight of the White Cross.
Author: G. A. Henty.
Gene: Christian Historical Fiction.
Plot: The tale opens by introducing us to Queen Margaret, who is living in exile in France with her son Edward and their good friends Sir Thomas and Dame Tresham with their young son Gervaise, in the summer of 1470. It is England's War of the Roses and for the majority of the next couple chapters war strategies are discussed, arrangements in case of Sir Thomas' death are made and two disastrous battles are recounted for us. Sir Thomas survives the first and he escapes with his family to a place on the coast of England where it was arranged for the queen to land and there he leaves his wife and son to follow Prince Edward into battle. He never returns. Dame Tresham follows her husband's last wishes and flees into France where, for the next two and a half years, she devotes herself to Gervaise's education and preparation for entering the Oder of St. John as a page. At the end of that time period Dame Tresham, a thin shadow of her former self, feels that it is time for her to hand her son over to the Knights of the Order and accordingly they take a ship to London and pay a visit to the Order's representative there, into who's hands she gives her son. Dame Tresham dies later that night.
At nearly twelve years old Gervaise is an orphan. He grieved sorely for his mother but was wisely preoccupied with his training and he "gained the encomiums, not only of his special preceptor, but of the various knights in the house, and of the grand prior himself, both for his strength and activity, and for the earnestness with which he worked." Some time later Gervaise and four other older knights-in-training {including a certain Robert Rivers who takes a dislike to young Gervaise} leave for the Island of Rhodes under the charge of Sir Guy Redcar, an older knight, and along the way they are instructed in how to manage and run a ship as part of their training for the knights protected the coast-lands from pirates and a knowledge of the workings of a ship was only practical. Upon arrival Gervaise becomes the page of the grand master and for the next three years he works very hard, cheerfully and diligently at his duties and training and he makes the most of all his hours, including his spare ones in which he engages in physical exercises on the water or in the saddle and was therefore "indisputably superior in strength, activity and skill in military exercises, to any of his companions." When he is fifteen or sixteen his page-ship ends and he embarks on his first of three required voyages to chase Muslim pirates around.
In the next several chapters Gervaise greatly distinguishes himself in the sea-battle with the pirates and is knighted alongside his good friend Ralph Harcourt because of their bravery during that first voyage, Gervaise then devotes nine months to learning the Turkish language at which he becomes fluent and takes his ransomed Muslim language instructor back to his homeland then returns safely home and is promptly introduced by Ralph to a merchant friend of his and the merchant's family. It is there that Gervaise notices one of the other guests, a Greek, trying to eavesdrop on his conversation with the merchant and the crafty expression of the man's face sets Gervaise on his guard and with good reason too, for later he espies the man speaking in a suspicious manner to a prison officer. Gervaise then disguises himself as a Muslim slave and lives among the galley slaves captured in battle for nearly two weeks before his suspicions are confirmed and a major escape plan of the slaves is foiled.
After the adventure with the galley slaves Gervaise is given his own ship to command with a crew of young knights and they chase down a couple pirate ships then, upon hearing a rumor of a pirate fleet assembling off the coast of Italy, they go in search of it and, following a brilliant plan, destroy most of it with the aid of darkness, fishermen and fire-ships. While he is still in town looking for men to man the captured ships Gervaise meets the fair young Lady Claudia who gives him as a token of favor her necklace which he vows to treasure above any other honors he may receive. Then off he goes on another adventure in which he is captured by pirates and is sold to a kind master who he faithfully serves till he is taken away and imprisoned. Some time later he escapes and makes his way back to the Island of Rhodes in dramatic fashion in may of 1480 in time to join in the defence of that stronghold wholeheartedly.
A Knight of the White Cross is a rather long book at four hundred eight pages but it's twenty-three chapters are filled with exciting adventures, narrow escapes and brilliant plans that will delight the boy or girl, man or woman who picks this tale up and braves it's one-inch-thick-intimidating-size to enjoy a good old fashion epic adventure told from a Christian perspective!
Likes/Dislikes of Book:Very good from cover to cover though I must admit that the first couple chapters of most Henty novels tend to be rather boring as he's setting the stage but the pace picks up considerably afterward. Very clean book, Gervaise is beaten by the pirate who captures him but he only gets a bunch of bruises and Henty doesn't go into detail on any of the other wounds Gervaise gets during the siege.
Rating: Twelve and up unless the younger readers listen to it on audio CDs or get an older person to read the book to them. It's highly recommended by the reviewer for personal enjoyment, a good family read-aloud or an exciting addition to a historical study of the time period.
Date Report Written: January 15, 2010.
Author: G. A. Henty.
Gene: Christian Historical Fiction.
Plot: The tale opens by introducing us to Queen Margaret, who is living in exile in France with her son Edward and their good friends Sir Thomas and Dame Tresham with their young son Gervaise, in the summer of 1470. It is England's War of the Roses and for the majority of the next couple chapters war strategies are discussed, arrangements in case of Sir Thomas' death are made and two disastrous battles are recounted for us. Sir Thomas survives the first and he escapes with his family to a place on the coast of England where it was arranged for the queen to land and there he leaves his wife and son to follow Prince Edward into battle. He never returns. Dame Tresham follows her husband's last wishes and flees into France where, for the next two and a half years, she devotes herself to Gervaise's education and preparation for entering the Oder of St. John as a page. At the end of that time period Dame Tresham, a thin shadow of her former self, feels that it is time for her to hand her son over to the Knights of the Order and accordingly they take a ship to London and pay a visit to the Order's representative there, into who's hands she gives her son. Dame Tresham dies later that night.
At nearly twelve years old Gervaise is an orphan. He grieved sorely for his mother but was wisely preoccupied with his training and he "gained the encomiums, not only of his special preceptor, but of the various knights in the house, and of the grand prior himself, both for his strength and activity, and for the earnestness with which he worked." Some time later Gervaise and four other older knights-in-training {including a certain Robert Rivers who takes a dislike to young Gervaise} leave for the Island of Rhodes under the charge of Sir Guy Redcar, an older knight, and along the way they are instructed in how to manage and run a ship as part of their training for the knights protected the coast-lands from pirates and a knowledge of the workings of a ship was only practical. Upon arrival Gervaise becomes the page of the grand master and for the next three years he works very hard, cheerfully and diligently at his duties and training and he makes the most of all his hours, including his spare ones in which he engages in physical exercises on the water or in the saddle and was therefore "indisputably superior in strength, activity and skill in military exercises, to any of his companions." When he is fifteen or sixteen his page-ship ends and he embarks on his first of three required voyages to chase Muslim pirates around.
In the next several chapters Gervaise greatly distinguishes himself in the sea-battle with the pirates and is knighted alongside his good friend Ralph Harcourt because of their bravery during that first voyage, Gervaise then devotes nine months to learning the Turkish language at which he becomes fluent and takes his ransomed Muslim language instructor back to his homeland then returns safely home and is promptly introduced by Ralph to a merchant friend of his and the merchant's family. It is there that Gervaise notices one of the other guests, a Greek, trying to eavesdrop on his conversation with the merchant and the crafty expression of the man's face sets Gervaise on his guard and with good reason too, for later he espies the man speaking in a suspicious manner to a prison officer. Gervaise then disguises himself as a Muslim slave and lives among the galley slaves captured in battle for nearly two weeks before his suspicions are confirmed and a major escape plan of the slaves is foiled.
After the adventure with the galley slaves Gervaise is given his own ship to command with a crew of young knights and they chase down a couple pirate ships then, upon hearing a rumor of a pirate fleet assembling off the coast of Italy, they go in search of it and, following a brilliant plan, destroy most of it with the aid of darkness, fishermen and fire-ships. While he is still in town looking for men to man the captured ships Gervaise meets the fair young Lady Claudia who gives him as a token of favor her necklace which he vows to treasure above any other honors he may receive. Then off he goes on another adventure in which he is captured by pirates and is sold to a kind master who he faithfully serves till he is taken away and imprisoned. Some time later he escapes and makes his way back to the Island of Rhodes in dramatic fashion in may of 1480 in time to join in the defence of that stronghold wholeheartedly.
A Knight of the White Cross is a rather long book at four hundred eight pages but it's twenty-three chapters are filled with exciting adventures, narrow escapes and brilliant plans that will delight the boy or girl, man or woman who picks this tale up and braves it's one-inch-thick-intimidating-size to enjoy a good old fashion epic adventure told from a Christian perspective!
Likes/Dislikes of Book:Very good from cover to cover though I must admit that the first couple chapters of most Henty novels tend to be rather boring as he's setting the stage but the pace picks up considerably afterward. Very clean book, Gervaise is beaten by the pirate who captures him but he only gets a bunch of bruises and Henty doesn't go into detail on any of the other wounds Gervaise gets during the siege.
Rating: Twelve and up unless the younger readers listen to it on audio CDs or get an older person to read the book to them. It's highly recommended by the reviewer for personal enjoyment, a good family read-aloud or an exciting addition to a historical study of the time period.
Date Report Written: January 15, 2010.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The Honorable Impostor Book Review.
Title of Book: The Honorable Impostor.
Author: Gilbert Morris.
Gene: Historical Fiction, Romance.
Plot: In chapter one we are introduced to Lord, Lady and Cecily North, a pretty picture is drawn of them as they chatter together and prepare to attend a ball held at Lord Roth’s luxurious castle. The ball begins on time with Lord Roth and Lady Cecily dancing together the first dance, later on Cecily is sitting with a friend of hers when they both notice a newcomer to the dance floor who singles Cecily out to dance with and the smart-alack heiress soon discovers that his wit is as sharp as her own and his taste for romance and poetry much the same as well. Tis only after the dance that she learns from her father that he is the poor minister who is also a distant cousin. In the next couple of chapters we quickly learn that young Gilbert Winslow is reckless and has a bad track record at his college and we learn that he hates his older brother Edward because he thinks he and their father are trying to force him to become a minister against his will. The morning after the ball we discover that Lord North, Lord Roth and the Bishop want Gilbert to work for them and he, being desirous of escaping his imagined fate of minister, promptly accepts and then learns that they want him to infiltrate a group of English people living in Leyden, Holland who are called Brownists or, as we know them better as, the Pilgrims.
Throughout the first and second half of the book Gilbert battles with his sense of honor and his desire to rise in the world while he befriends several of the Pilgrims {including John Howland, John Carver and William Bradford} and works his way into the church and the Pilgrims’ good graces. His mission is to find the location of William Brewster who is wanted by the King for having illegally published pamphlets stating that the Church of England was false and needed purifying {basically anyway} and when Gilbert puts two and two together he figures that Miss Humility Cooper is his key to success. Gilbert begins to woo her first without any intentions save to find Brewster but later he abruptly discovers that he loves her, by then things have started rolling very fast in that he is now trusted enough to be told that Brewster does communicate with the little church through Humility but he’s also told that the rumored trip to the New World will indeed take place. With so many things on his mind the battle with his honor begins again and suddenly he finds himself heading to England with Humility to tell Brewster of the trip to America and bring him to one of the ships. One evening a few days after their arrival at his hide-out Brewster reads the story of Jesus’ betrayal and Gilbert hastily leaves the house and has a final showdown with the warring emotions within in him, his sense of honor prevails and he returns to the small house very happy and relieved only to find that he’s too late. Lord Roth is there and the whole story of Gilbert’s infiltration comes out before the two fight a duel.
Gilbert kills Lord Roth but he is badly wounded and while he’s unconscious Brewster and a brokenhearted Humility take him to a place of safety where they remain for three weeks before word comes that the Mayflower hasn’t sailed yet due to the trouble with the other ship and Gilbert, though he isn’t fully recovered yet, rushes them off through the night to the harbor with the intention of dropping them off at the ship and making a break for France but in the process of getting Humility and Brewster onboard the severe wound in his leg is reopened and Edward refuses to put him back on shore though the brothers both know that practically the whole ship hates him for his treachery and near-betrayal. As Gilbert slowly mends on the rough trip across the Atlantic he grows bitter then, as his bitterness wears off, he loses his will to enjoy life and becomes numb to everything around him save his regret for the past and his hopeless love for Humility who hates him of course.
While onboard Gilbert is befriended by Miles Standish who takes to the tall young man and William Bradford opens his heart also to Gilbert while two sailors named Daggot and Coffin grow in their hatred of the Pilgrims and Daggot loses his life while trying to take Gilbert’s in a surprise-attack swordfight. When the Pilgrims reach the New World more trouble awaits them in the form of sickness with several dying while exploration parties are sent ashore. They finely decide on New Plymouth for the site of their colony and Gilbert throws himself into the hard work, taking a bitter enjoyment in the harsh, cold weather while his character, which had been broken down, begins to rebuild itself into a better man. He volunteers to look after the sick crew of the ship during the height of the sickness and makes a difference that way while the miraculous recovery of his young orphan friend Tink has him thinking, not only about life and death, but also about the Presence he feels that is actually God trying to get his attention. Several more life-threatening adventures and a visit from his past later Gilbert finely gives in and accepts God and His plan for his life.
Gilbert Winslow shows us in this action-packed historical fiction that it is possible to change; he was a headstrong, reckless, rebellious young man who had his whole life turned upside down and given a good shake. He came out of it all with a stronger character, a bolder mindset, more confident, less reckless, still stubborn and a believer in the God he’d first rejected in his wasted youth. He was given a second chance and he made the most of though he probably didn’t know that at the time.
Likes/Dislikes of the Book: I enjoyed all the action that was packed into the thirty chapters and Gilbert’s transformation from rebellious youth to the mature man God wanted him to be was very well written and flowed smoothly together from chapter to chapter. I would have preferred that the natural attraction Gilbert felt for the two female lead-roles could have been downplayed a lot less and there was rather too much kissing. But all in all it was a very good book.
Rating: I rate this book as a PG -14 or 15 mainly because younger children might not understand half of the story and of course the kissing between the unmarried couples might not be something young children should read about but older teens with good discernment for such things and their parents’ permission will probably enjoy this book.
Date First Report Written: May 25, 2009.
Date Second Report Written: January 8, 2010.
Author: Gilbert Morris.
Gene: Historical Fiction, Romance.
Plot: In chapter one we are introduced to Lord, Lady and Cecily North, a pretty picture is drawn of them as they chatter together and prepare to attend a ball held at Lord Roth’s luxurious castle. The ball begins on time with Lord Roth and Lady Cecily dancing together the first dance, later on Cecily is sitting with a friend of hers when they both notice a newcomer to the dance floor who singles Cecily out to dance with and the smart-alack heiress soon discovers that his wit is as sharp as her own and his taste for romance and poetry much the same as well. Tis only after the dance that she learns from her father that he is the poor minister who is also a distant cousin. In the next couple of chapters we quickly learn that young Gilbert Winslow is reckless and has a bad track record at his college and we learn that he hates his older brother Edward because he thinks he and their father are trying to force him to become a minister against his will. The morning after the ball we discover that Lord North, Lord Roth and the Bishop want Gilbert to work for them and he, being desirous of escaping his imagined fate of minister, promptly accepts and then learns that they want him to infiltrate a group of English people living in Leyden, Holland who are called Brownists or, as we know them better as, the Pilgrims.
Throughout the first and second half of the book Gilbert battles with his sense of honor and his desire to rise in the world while he befriends several of the Pilgrims {including John Howland, John Carver and William Bradford} and works his way into the church and the Pilgrims’ good graces. His mission is to find the location of William Brewster who is wanted by the King for having illegally published pamphlets stating that the Church of England was false and needed purifying {basically anyway} and when Gilbert puts two and two together he figures that Miss Humility Cooper is his key to success. Gilbert begins to woo her first without any intentions save to find Brewster but later he abruptly discovers that he loves her, by then things have started rolling very fast in that he is now trusted enough to be told that Brewster does communicate with the little church through Humility but he’s also told that the rumored trip to the New World will indeed take place. With so many things on his mind the battle with his honor begins again and suddenly he finds himself heading to England with Humility to tell Brewster of the trip to America and bring him to one of the ships. One evening a few days after their arrival at his hide-out Brewster reads the story of Jesus’ betrayal and Gilbert hastily leaves the house and has a final showdown with the warring emotions within in him, his sense of honor prevails and he returns to the small house very happy and relieved only to find that he’s too late. Lord Roth is there and the whole story of Gilbert’s infiltration comes out before the two fight a duel.
Gilbert kills Lord Roth but he is badly wounded and while he’s unconscious Brewster and a brokenhearted Humility take him to a place of safety where they remain for three weeks before word comes that the Mayflower hasn’t sailed yet due to the trouble with the other ship and Gilbert, though he isn’t fully recovered yet, rushes them off through the night to the harbor with the intention of dropping them off at the ship and making a break for France but in the process of getting Humility and Brewster onboard the severe wound in his leg is reopened and Edward refuses to put him back on shore though the brothers both know that practically the whole ship hates him for his treachery and near-betrayal. As Gilbert slowly mends on the rough trip across the Atlantic he grows bitter then, as his bitterness wears off, he loses his will to enjoy life and becomes numb to everything around him save his regret for the past and his hopeless love for Humility who hates him of course.
While onboard Gilbert is befriended by Miles Standish who takes to the tall young man and William Bradford opens his heart also to Gilbert while two sailors named Daggot and Coffin grow in their hatred of the Pilgrims and Daggot loses his life while trying to take Gilbert’s in a surprise-attack swordfight. When the Pilgrims reach the New World more trouble awaits them in the form of sickness with several dying while exploration parties are sent ashore. They finely decide on New Plymouth for the site of their colony and Gilbert throws himself into the hard work, taking a bitter enjoyment in the harsh, cold weather while his character, which had been broken down, begins to rebuild itself into a better man. He volunteers to look after the sick crew of the ship during the height of the sickness and makes a difference that way while the miraculous recovery of his young orphan friend Tink has him thinking, not only about life and death, but also about the Presence he feels that is actually God trying to get his attention. Several more life-threatening adventures and a visit from his past later Gilbert finely gives in and accepts God and His plan for his life.
Gilbert Winslow shows us in this action-packed historical fiction that it is possible to change; he was a headstrong, reckless, rebellious young man who had his whole life turned upside down and given a good shake. He came out of it all with a stronger character, a bolder mindset, more confident, less reckless, still stubborn and a believer in the God he’d first rejected in his wasted youth. He was given a second chance and he made the most of though he probably didn’t know that at the time.
Likes/Dislikes of the Book: I enjoyed all the action that was packed into the thirty chapters and Gilbert’s transformation from rebellious youth to the mature man God wanted him to be was very well written and flowed smoothly together from chapter to chapter. I would have preferred that the natural attraction Gilbert felt for the two female lead-roles could have been downplayed a lot less and there was rather too much kissing. But all in all it was a very good book.
Rating: I rate this book as a PG -14 or 15 mainly because younger children might not understand half of the story and of course the kissing between the unmarried couples might not be something young children should read about but older teens with good discernment for such things and their parents’ permission will probably enjoy this book.
Date First Report Written: May 25, 2009.
Date Second Report Written: January 8, 2010.
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