I recently met some humans for the first time and one of the little ones brought a cold with him. (Sniff. Snuffle. Achoo!) Excuse me. Even dragons get sick sometimes. (Sniff. Snuffle.) I’ll tell you one thing; it’s not any more fun for us to get sick than it is for you.

Finding myself stuck in bed for a few days reminded me of a book that I love. In it there’s a little human girl who finds herself sick in a strange place, too…but that comes later in the story.

Mandy was written by Julie Andrews Edwards for her daughter over 40 years ago. When you read it in your head it’s almost like Mary Poppins herself is reading you to sleep. It’s just the sort of sugar this bookwyrm needed the make the medicine go down.

The story

The world is full of exciting places, but when the day ends and the world curls up to sleep, there’s no place like home. But what about orphans? Where do they call home?

That’s the question Mandy has pondered nearly every day of her ten years of life. She longs for a home of her own so much she’s willing to do just about anything to create her own after discovering an old abandoned cottage on a vacant estate behind the wall of her orphanage.

Inside the forgotten little house she finds a room with real sea shells decorating the walls. Little by little,  she restores the overgrown garden, cleans the inside and outside of the cottage, and, with a little help from her earned pocket money, creates a refuge where she can study and dream.

However, her actions don’t go unnoticed.

The people closest to Mandy, including her best friends Sue, notice her acting strangely and disappearing for long hours at a time. When they try to talk to her, Mandy becomes even more protective of her secret, going so far as to sneak out in the middle of a storm to make sure her secret remains a secret. The result could cost her dearly.

Mandy is divided into four sections: One for each season, each with it’s own challenge to overcome. My favorite is Winter. Although this isn’t a Christmas book, the holiday plays a big role in Mandy finally discovering what her heart has been longing for all her life: family.

Final Thoughts

I give Mandy 4.5 out of 5 dark chocolate eggs. Because the book was originally written about a time and place when the world was a lot smaller and safer for children, the young characters have a lot more freedom to wander about than we would today. But the story is magical without having any real magic in it.

Mandy also makes some choices that cause her real trouble, which is one of the things I like most about this story. We get to see the consequences for each of her actions.

This is a great book for young bookwyrms to read aloud with their family, especially when the family takes the time to talk about what they might do if they found themselves facing difficult situations and hard choices like Mandy’s. Good fiction teaches without looking like it’s trying to teach us a lesson. Mandy does exactly that!

Where to find it:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Don’t forget to look at your local library or independent bookstore, first!

(Sniff. Sniffle. Snark!) Excuse me. I need to go find some more tissues. (Ah-CHOO!)

Note: No goods or services were exchanged for this review. The opinions belong solely to the reviewer.