"Heidi"

"Heidi" by Johanna Spyri is one of my all time favorites. Every time I read it, it's like reading it for the first time again (and I should know... I think this was my fourth, uh, fifth time reading it.). I feel everything that the young girl feels: her compassion, her pain as she leaves home, her joy, her sorrow, and most of all... her love for the Swiss mountains, her grandfather, her goats, and her friends; of which she has many. It is such a fun book to read anytime. But let me proceed to the synopsis:It all begins with a woman named Detie dragging a five year old girl up a mountain to take the child to her grandfather. It seems like an ordinary scene, except for the fact that the young girl - Heidi (as you may have guessed), has never met her grandfather. And there are rumors everywhere that "Uncle Alp", as he is called, is the meanest man alive. But once he meets Heidi, his heart starts to soften, and he grows to love her. Heidi also grows to love him, and her new home.  But one day, years later, Detie returns, wanting to take Heidi with her. She tells Heidi that she is going to live in Frankfurt, with a girl named Clara, who is very sickly, and must be in a wheel-chair. She then promises Heidi that she can come back as soon as she likes. So Heidi is taken away from her home, and her grandfather, and goes to live with the Sesemann household. She meets Clara, and Sebastian, the butler; Miss Rottenmier, the lady in charge; Tinette, the maid; and many others during her stay. Secretly, Heidi longs for her grandfather, and the days in the mountains. She waits for when she can go home, and be free again....

This book, published in 1880, is great. I give it 5 stars, and would recommend it to any age. My copy is 283 pages, but it is more of an easy read. I hope that everyone who reads it enjoys this book as I do.

Natalia