Reading Journal: Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

Book Description:

After the death of her father, orphan Rose Campbell has no choice but to go and live at the 'Aunt Hill' with her six aunts and seven boy cousins. For someone who was used to a girl's boarding school, it all seems pretty overwhelming, especially since her guardian Uncle Alec makes her eat healthy things like oatmeal, and even tries to get her to give up her pretty dresses for more drab, sensible clothes. Will Rose ever get used to her Uncle's strange ideas and all her noisy relatives? Will there come a day when she can't imagine living anywhere else?

My thoughts:
I remember somewhere around the age 12 trying to read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and for some reason or another I gave it up. A couple of years later I went to my Grandma's house and she put a book in my hand and insisted that I just had to read it. The book was Eight Cousins.

Eight Cousins tells the story of Rose Campbell who goes to live with her uncle and is surrounded by seven boy cousins. Rose isn't very happy since she hates boys. Not only does she have all these boys her cousins, but she is she has a passel of aunts who have a different idea on how she should be raised. When her Uncle Alec, who is her legal guardian, shows up he begins to apply his ideas of what healthy living is. Under Uncle Alec care and tutelage she begins to enjoy learning, playing, caring for her cousins, and appreciating her aunts.

So why did my Grandma insist I read this book? Well, I was the only girl "cousin". When I would go and stay with my Grandma at her farm it was me, my brother, and two other boy cousins. Eventually, two more boys joined the clan and there I was still the only girl. What made it bearable was that I was the oldest, and let me tell you I used that to my advantage since I can be a very bossy! When I got older I gave up bossing them and found myself a quiet place and read to my heart's content (or until those pesky boys came bothering me).

I have to admit my Grandma did me a great service that day and even though my situation was anything like Rose's, Eight Cousins is a special book to me. When my Grandma passed away I made sure that I found her copy and brought it home with me.

Thanks to my Grandma I dived right into Little Women and Alcott's other books which I enjoyed immensely. Eight Cousins remained one of my favorite Alcott reads, until I discovered the sequel, Rose in Bloom , but my waxing eloquent on that book will have to wait for another day.

 

This was my Grandma's copy of the book she gave me to read and 

below is the shape it was in when I read it the first time, but

I didn't let the condition deter me from reading.