Philip Pullman "The Subttle Knife"

Philip Pullman - The Subtle Knife

Lyra Belacqua: the next level (The Subtle Knife)

Good books for girls age 12.

"The Subttle Knife" is the second part of the trilogy "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman. The book was released in 1997.

Lyra travels from her world into Cittagazze, a strange place, inhabited, at first glance, only by children. According to the stories of Сitagazze’s children, adults are devoured by mysterious ghosts whom children can not see. In Cittagazze Lyra meets Will Parry, the second main character of "His Dark Materials", who came to Cittagazze from his world. From this moment the life of Lyra changes significantly again. Meeting Will determines Lyra's fate, being one of the prophecies that come true as referred to in the trilogy.

In contrast to the "Northern Lights", where Lyra is still a child even if she goes through a lot of difficulties and losses, "The Subttle Knife" is written in a slightly different way. The narrative becomes more serious, the sadness which passes throughout the entire trilogy feels even more strongly. And Lyra continues to grow, learning more about the worlds, Dust and life in general.

The subtle knife is a subject with which you can transport yourself from one world to another, it chooses Will as its owner. Will with a help of the knife looks for his long-lost father and Lyra joins him, hoping to find the source of Dust. During their travels through different worlds the girl and the boy tie to each other, although at first they often quarrel due to their complex characters and different perceptions of the world.

When Lyra lived in a medieval Oxford she had many friends, among whom she enjoyed unlimited authority. With Will everything is different, he has much better orientation in a variety of situations, he knows more, and Lyra must learn to listen and trust him. In addition, it is difficult to impress Will, a boy of modern Britain, and Lyra is a bit shocked by that, because so far it was easy for her to get respect of other children.

"The Subttle Knife" is a kind of transitional stage in Lyra's life - she has already gone through a lot of things, her perception of the world has changed dramatically, she is not a little girl, but her experience and knowledge so far are not enough for the mysterious prophecy be realized.

Agatha Christie "At Bertram’s Hotel"

Agatha Christie - At Bertram's Hotel

There are women that are not suitable at all to perform the role of mother. It is exactly this type of a lady, a rich seeker of thrilling emotions, Bess Sedgwick, who appears in the novel "At Bertram’s Hotel" by Agatha Christie. At the time, Bess, who did not want to live an ordinary life, delegated the upbringing of her daughter, Elvira Blake, to governesses, and later on sent Elvira to a closed boarding school in Italy.

Elvira completes her education and returns to England. By incredible coincidence, she turns out to be in the same hotel with her mother and her mom’s lover. The girl is disoriented, she learns a lot of unwanted information, including that she may not receive her inheritance, which she desperately needs to get married. Bess is struggling to stay away from her daughter as it is not the right place for her daughter to be next to a chieftain of a gang constantly tickling nerves by committing extravagant, but absolutely illegal acts. 

Unfortunately, the influence of heredity shows itself - the first husband of Bess, Michael Gorman, dies supposedly protecting Elvira. Nothing stands between the girl and her inheritance. When a criminal investigation starts, maternal instincts of Bess Sedgwick wake up, she takes the blame for the murder of Gorman, then escaping from the arrest, she gets out of the window, climbs over the roof, gets into the car, accelerates it to the maximum speed and deliberately crashes into the barrier.

Miss Marple and the police commissioner do not have doubts about the guilt of Elvira, but Bess took the blame upon herself, her testimony is recorded. It is in form of death that Bess Sedgwick gave love to her daughter, which she was incapable of during her lifetime.

Serious Astrid Lingren "Ronia, the Robber's Daughter”

 Lingren-Ronia, the Robber's Daughter

Good books for girls age 10.

   

The name of Astrid Lindgren is now known all over the world, it is the author of numerous children's books on which grew several generations of children. Most of the works of the Swedish writer are easy, fun and imbued with humor. The characters of Lindgren joke even in tense dramatic moments and cope with difficulties fast enough.

However, there is a book of Astrid Lindgren that stands out strongly by its seriousness and even some tragic nature; it is "Ronia, Robber's Daughter". The book was released in 1981 in Swedish language followed by a film of Swedish production in 1984.

In contrast to the well-known "Carlsson on the Roof" and "Pippi Longstocking" "Ronia, Robber's Daughter" is quite a complex book, evoking strong "adult" emotions such as sadness, sometimes almost to tears. Even the comic characters of the book emphasize the seriousness of events.

Dan Brown "The Lost Symbol"

Dan Brown-The Lost Symbol

What if a woman does a serious business? I mean, Dr. Katherine Solomon, from the novel "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. She is a classical image of a woman who devoted her life to noesis. She has a realistic, sober look at life and she is in charge of her brother Peter, also an outstanding scientist, who cannot orientate himself in real life. By the way, Katherine is herself a scientist of a high rank.

Everything has its price. Katherine Solomon has no family. Dan Brown is one of those authors who recognize two types of women: kitchen or laboratory. That is, of course, a very convenient way to work with your personages, but there are thousands of women who combine scientific work with marriage and raising children. With all the versatility of Katherine’s talents, she looks a bit dry; femininity in her life is absent and manifests itself only in respect of her genius brother.

I can not judge the author. He did not set himself the task to demonstrate the image from all sides. The book is good without it. But still, I felt somewhat disappointed - the world of Dan Brown is driven only by men.