Category Archives: Unconditional Recommendation

Ella Enchanted

by Gail Carson Levine

Unconditional Recommendation: In this fairytale retelling, Ella, cursed by a fairy to obey every command, sets out to break her curse and protect those she loves.

Age: Middle Grade
Series: Stand Alone
Pages: 232
Published: 1997
Genre: Fairytale, Fantasy

Awards: Newbery Honor (1998), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature (1999), Grand Canyon Reader Award for Teen Book (1999), Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award for Grade 6-9 (2000), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award (1999)

Continue reading

Pollyanna

by Eleanor H. Porter

Unconditional Recommendation: Eleven-year-old orphan Pollyanna, full of happiness and love, goes to live with her cold, strict Aunt Polly and turns the household and the town upside down in the best way.

Age: Middle Grade
Series: Stand Alone
Pages:  224-333, depending on edition
Published: 1913

Genre: Classic

Continue reading

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

Unconditional Recommendation: Despite differing social classes, misunderstandings, ridiculous family members, prejudice and pride, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy fall in love.

Age: Young Adult
Series: Stand Alone
Pages: 344
Published: 1813

Genre: Romance, Classic

Continue reading

The Meeting Place (Song of Acadia #1)

by Janette Oke & T. Davis Bunn

Unconditional Recommendation: In Acadia, a chance meeting creates a strong bond of friendship and faith between an Englishwoman and a Frenchwoman during a time of hostilities and impending war between their homelands.

Age: Young Adult
Series: Song of Acadia, Book 1
Pages: 288
Published: 1999
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

Awards: Christy Award for North American Historical (2000)

Continue reading

Mattie’s Unspoken Vow (A Newly Weds #5)

by Margo Hansen

Unconditional Recommendation: A shotgun wedding to a stranger, a tangle of relationships, and strange circumstances happening all over Sand Creek make for an engaging and sentimental finale to the series.

Age: Young Adult
Series: A Newly Weds series, Book Five
Pages: 322
Published: 2013

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Continue reading

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare

Unconditional Recommendation: Katherine “Kit” Tyler must learn to live in a Puritan community with her relatives but befriends the Witch of Blackbird Pond and risks being persecuted as a witch herself.

Age: Young Adult
Series: Stand Alone
Pages: 256
Published: 1958
Genre: Historical

Awards: Newbery Medal (1959), Dorothy Canfeld Fisher Children’s Book Award (1960)

Continue reading

The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia #6)

by C.S. Lewis

Unconditional Recommendation: Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb go to Narnia and on Aslan’s orders, embark on a journey to find the lost Prince Rilian of Narnia.

Age: Middle Grade
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, Book Six
Pages: 243
Published: 1953

Genre: Fantasy, Christian Allegory

Continue reading

Little House in the Big Woods (#1)

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Unconditional Recommendation: Young Laura Ingalls and her family make a living working the land and hunting the woods in 1871 Wisconsin.

Age: Middle Grade
Series: Little House, Book One
Pages: 238
Published: 1932

Genre: Historical, Autobiographical Fiction

Continue reading