Tennyson by Leslie M. M. Blume

I heard about an awesome book called Tennyson by Lesley M. M. Blume, so I read it. I loved it! You should read this book. It is a fantastic piece of literature.

Tennyson is a cross between a fantasy novel and an historical fiction novel. It’s about a girl caught between her present and her family’s past. Tennyson, the main character, and her sister, Hattie, go live with their Aunt Henrietta after their mother leaves them so that their father can search for his missing wife. Aunt Henrietta lives in a crumbling mansion in Louisiana and is desperately trying to restore it to its former glory. She views her nieces as an opportunity to do just that. She uses the girls to attract rich suitors. All the while, Tennyson is trying to lure her mother home with family secrets in order to escape her aunt. In the end, no one gets what they want. However, each person realizes that they need something else entirely.

Ms. Blume does an amazing job weaving the past with the present. I enjoyed this book and recommend this book to 6th graders.

List of Recommended Books by Grade
 

2^nd grade –

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Miss Holly Is Too Jolly, by Dan Gutman

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

 

3^rd grade –

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

 

4^th grade –

Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry

Louisiana's Song by Kerry Madden

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

The Golly Whopper Games by Jody Feldman

5^th grade –

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Benjamin Pratt & The Keeper of the School by Andrew Clements

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

6^th grade –

Tennyson by Lesley M. M. Blume

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman

Dewey, by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.

 

7^th grade and up –

The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byers

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Seventeen Second Miracle, by Jason F. Wright