Windy Hill

I've read this before. Recently. But I have no record of it and it's not highlighted on my Newbery book list, so even though I realized in the first chapter that I had read it and immediately knew the basic plot line, I had to read it again. Because I had to make sure that I had read it and that it was recorded.  The last few chapters did seem new to me, though, so it is very likely that I started and never finished.

Oliver and Janet visit their mother's cousin Jasper for the summer and discover something has been weighing on him for a long period of time. Annoyed by Jasper's neglectfulness, Oliver tries to go back home but runs into a beekeeper, the Beeman, and his daughter, Polly, on his way to the train and they convince him to stay. The Beeman tells several stories throughout the book (that constitute entire chapters) and I found them much more intriguing than the story of Oliver and Jasper. In the end we discover that the stories he has been telling are family history stories! They are accounts of his and Oliver's ancestors (spoiler alert: the Beeman and Jasper are cousins) that he has read in the genealogical books and records he has inherited. Oliver's story ends when the bad guy (who has been bullying and cheating cousin Jasper) suddenly repents and leaves town so everyone is happy.

Overall Rating: Meh, but I will give it credit for being much more readable than the medal that year, The History of Mankind, a book I have checked out from the library at least a dozen times and still have not managed to finish. Read Windy Hill online!