Title: The Secret Garden

Author: Burnett, Frances Hodgson

Book Preview:

Mary Lennox has just become an orphan. She is sick and spoiled and is forced to go to her Uncle’s mansion. Soon she finds a secret garden that has been locked up since her aunt’s death ten years ago. She also finds another secret—her cousin, Colin. He is also very sick and spoiled. Will Colin and Mary finally be normal children once they have found the magic of the garden? Or will they always be spoiled and never love anybody for the rest of their lives?

Rating:

I thought The Secret Garden had great description. My favorite parts were when they were describing the garden. They described every flower, every tree, and every bush so well. It was almost like I was there in the garden with them.

I thought the ending could have been improved. I like endings that are kind of unexpected. With this ending you could figure out what was going to happen almost in the middle of the book.

The Secret Garden was not very exciting, but it caught my interest in some other ways, like when they were talking. Sometimes it was kind of boring, but other things they talked about, like the garden and their past lives, then you could get into it more.

The introduction was good because it was a pretty long beginning, and it had many details about Mary’s life. The thing I did not like about the introduction was that it skipped around too much and was a little confusing. At one scene she was in a house, and the next moment she was on a train. The author could have given more details about the places she was at instead of just skipping from place to place.

I thought the book was well organized for two reasons. First, I thought each chapter flowed well and didn’t go into a totally different subject. Second, I thought the sequence of events was in good order, too.

I thought the characters were interesting for several reasons. Mary, the main character, was a very spoiled, unwanted girl, and after she found the garden she changed quite a bit. Dickon, another important character, is an animal charmer. He is a very healthy and happy child who spends everyday outside. He knows how to talk to animals and make things grow like magic. The last character, Colin, is Mary’s cousin. He thinks that he is going to die at a young age. His father never wants to go see him, so Colin is a miserable child. Once he goes into the garden, he becomes more agreeable. [Claire]