Almost A Changeling

The Secret Garden
By Frances Hodgson Burnett
Hardcover: 375 pages
The Phillips Publishing Co (1910, 1911)
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Written nearly 100 years ago, The Secret Garden is one of many coming of age stories in existence. Mary Lennox, a very unpleasant young girl, is suddenly orphaned. She travels from India, where she was born and spent the first part of her life, to England so that she may be cared for by her only surviving relative, an old Uncle, who has a secret that he has kept for ten years.

The author had me intrigued first with Mary, then with her Uncle's secret... and after that, with Mary's progress as she becomes more civilized, changing from a half-wild and completely unlikable person into someone the reader can care about and who is important to other characters in the story...

Despite variances in the English language which have occurred within the last century, I found this refreshing and delightful tale was easily understandable and quite different from most of the YA novels of today. I recommend it to all readers from age 10 and up who are looking for something different. 

While this book can probably be found either used or in a new edition at many bookstores, the reader will also be able to download The Secret Garden free from Project Gutenberg. There are several different formats from which to choose at the first link, Or, if you prefer to listen, Project Gutenberg has several different audio formats available as well.