Mandy
Edwards, Julie
Readability: 7
Setting: Orphanage
Age of Main Character: 10 years

"One day Mandy found a deserted cottage in the near woods and began to fix it up. Mandy kept the cottage a secret but began to take things from the orphanage to clean up the cottage. When asked about the missing items and her rather strange behavior, Mandy lied. One lie led to the next and one cold, windy night Mandy was caught in her secret cottage too sick to move and near death."

This is a very sentimental book about Mandy, a ten-year-old girl, who knows nothing but the orphanage in which she lives. She is a very loving, but lonely girl who finds extreme pleasure in nature and being alone.

For a year she finds pleasure in cleaning and making an abandoned cottage in the woods her "special place". She conceals her activities and is often caught in positions which force her to lie about her adventures.

Mandy becomes very ill and her strong need to see "her cottage" takes her out in the cold, damp night. She becomes so ill that she cannot make it back to the orphanage. She is rescued by Mr. Fitzgerald, the cottage owner, and taken to his home to recover.

Mandy falls in love with Bill and Ann Fitzgerald and loves the feeling of "belonging" to a family.

Questions:

1. What was this story about?


2. Why was Mandy given so many privileges at the orphanage?


3. Why did Mandy keep the cottage a secret from everyone?


4. Why wouldn't Mandy call the Fitzgeralds after her return to the orphanage?


5. What would you fear if you were Mandy?