Louly

Chrys and Cordy #2

by Carol Ryrie Brink, Ingrid Fetz (Illustrator)

Chrys' friend Louly of Two Are Better Than One (1968) is almost fifteen in 1908 Warsaw, Idaho, keeping house for the summer while her parents go Back East (Michigan) to visit a sick grandmother. Promising Mother that she will be responsible and ten-year-old Pooh-Bah that they will have fun, Louly fulfills both commitments while managing to further her own romantic and other interests as well. After an obligatory biscuit disaster on the first night, there's an extended campout in a back yard tent with neighbors Chrys and Cordy included, and before the senior Tuckers return the girls have all enjoyed an overnight (chaperoned) trip to Springdale where Louly wins an elocution contest and goes dancing with handsome, admiring Eddie Wendell from Warsaw. Chrys' agonizing debut as a poet on the Elktown Bugle's children's page, the children's newspaper letter to their parents in Michigan, Louly's forged one to the Springfield speech teacher sponsoring herself as a contestant in the name of Miss Permelia Silverbottom, and the girls' impromptu dramatic productions throughout the summer bring back a time when girls were indeed younger than they are now; yet Louly would be engaging company at any time and her summer of freedom can still seem idyllic. (Kirkus)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens

198 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1974

About the author

Born Caroline Ryrie, American author of over 30 juvenile and adult books. Her novel Caddie Woodlawn won the 1936 Newbery Medal.

Brink was orphaned by age 8 and raised by her maternal grandmother, the model for Caddie Woodlawn. She started writing for her school newspapers and continued that in college. She attended the University of Idaho for three years before transferring to the University of California in 1917, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1918, the same year she married.

Anything Can Happen on the River, Brink's first novel, was published in 1934. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Idaho in 1965. Brink Hall, which houses the UI English Department and faculty offices, is named in her honor. The children's section of the Moscow, ID Carnegie public library is also named after her.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun story that’s a sequel to “Two Are Better Than One,” but I would have liked it better if it wasn’t a sequel. Brink wrote the book years after the other, so Louly springs onto the page as though she’s always existed in the town—but she hasn’t. She wasn’t so much as mentioned in the other book, but in this one she and the two girls are fast friends and it’s only set one year later. This part of the plot would have worked much better if Louly had simply been new in town or have been away for a while, but nothing was ever explained.

Overall, a cute story set in the early 1900s and with some fun escapades by the children involved.

Content: the girls pretend to be someone else when they write a letter, but no one ever speaks to them about their having lied in the letter.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sequel to Two Are Better Than One, is like its predecessor, a lighthearted period piece and a pleasant read. We are back in the small town of Warsaw, Idaho, in the year 1908, but the focus in this story is not on the twin-like friendship of Chrys and Cordy, but rather on Chrys' next door neighbor, 15 year old Louly (Louisa Lee). This is at first disconcerting. Louly made no appearance in the first book, yet she is such a strong character, and so clearly relishes orchestrating the fun of her younger neighbors (in a way that's at once bossy and supremely kind) that it's hard to imagine how she could not have figured in the earlier story. Obviously, this is because Brink hadn't thought her yet, but it still makes for a rather noticeable seam between the two books. I still have a sense that the first book was complete unto itself, but I enjoyed this sequel none the less.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carol Ryrie Brink returns to the world of Warsaw, Idaho - a setting that was no doubt based upon her own birth-place of Moscow, Idaho - in this sequel to Two Are Better Than One . The heroines of that earlier book, Chrystal Reese and Cordelia Lark, are major characters here, but the focus has shifted from their intimate friendship with one another to their involvement with Chrys' neighbor Louisa Lee Tucker, known to all as Louly. When Mr. and Mrs. Tucker go "Back East" to visit relatives in Michigan, the three Tucker children - almost-fifteen-year-old Louly, sixteen-year-old Ko-Ko (Konrad), and ten-year-old Poo-Bah (Paula Belle) - are left mostly to their own devices, with responsible adults to look in on them if need be. So begins a summer of play, with games of make-believe and camping out in the back yard. Louly, with one foot still in the world of childhood - the world of Cordy, Chrys and Poo-Bah - and one foot just inching into young womanhood, was a master at organizing imaginative fun - "the ideas popped out all over her" - and an important figure in her siblings' and young neighbors' lives.

Although I didn't rate it quite as highly as its predecessor, I greatly enjoyed Louly, which featured the same kind of small-town fun that made Two Are Better Than One such a pleasure to read. It didn't make me laugh quite as much as Chrys and Cordy's story first story, but it did make me smile, and I found all the characters immensely engaging. Chrys - who seems to be a stand-in for the author - features more prominently here than Cordy, and I thought Brink handled her prickly feelings about being different with sensitivity. I also liked the depictions offered of the various boys, from Ko-Ko and the Lark brothers, who outwardly scorn their girly sisters and their friends, but still manage to be supportive and concerned in their own way, to the two young sophomores that Chrys and Cordy meet at the dance in Springdale, who turn out to be as inexperienced as they are. Louly herself is an appealing heroine, with believable flaws - a tendency to forget to be "responsible" amongst them - but a loving heart and a unique way of being in the world that cannot fail to charm.

In sum: this entertaining sequel is well worth reading, and is particularly recommended to anyone who enjoyed Brink's first exploration of child life in Warsaw, Idaho!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet, funny follow-up to Two Are Better Than One. I loved spending more time with Chrys and Cordy and getting to know more of their friends, in particular the title character, Louly Tucker, who is a couple of years older than them.

In this book Louly (who lives in the house next door to Chrys's), her older brother, and her younger sister are left alone at home for the summer when their parents go away to visit an ailing relative. Cordy and Chrys's families keep an eye on the children, but in large part they're allowed to run free and enjoy a summer of playing and keeping house for themselves. Their adventures, creativity, and moments of growing up are fun and endearing. Louly is a great character, and one Chrys learns a lot from, in particular when it comes to having confidence around creative endeavors. (A particular storyline about Chrys's writing was quite touching to me, knowing that Chrys is based on the author's own childhood.)

I don't think I've encountered any books that remind me of the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace as much as this duology by Carol Ryrie Brink. That's high praise indeed! I'm sure I'll come back to both books in the series when I want a cozy, comforting read in the future.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pooh-Bah's "Emergency! Emergency!" declaration, after weeks' worth of camping out, and joining parades with wayward horses, and traveling to a recitation competition twenty miles away, is a hilarious, hilarious callback to the beginning of the book.

I didn't believe the copyright declaration at first - 1974? really? - the book is set in 1908, and I know Caddie Woodlawn was published in the 30s - but Goodreads has confirmed it. What a long writing career Carol Ryrie Brink had: around as long as E. L. Konigsburg. Maybe longer.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad my local library never got around to weeking this one. A fun book about siblings left to look after themselves for summer in a small Idaho town, with lots of help from friends, and how Louly, the oldest, makes fun happen through imaginative play. Louly is not actually the pov character; that honor goes to her younger friend, Chrys, an introvert, dreamer, and poet in training; she is a kindred spirit!

[Amanda Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a lovely story . Louly is in that "in-between" stage of womanhood and childhood, and I think she handles it rather gracefully--even when she leaves out the baking powder of the baking powder biscuits! Unaware, she inspires a friend to enjoy being herself by her example of enjoying being HERself.

What DID children do before television, i-pad's, etc?? Louly, her younger sister and two other girl friends had a frolickingly good time in their backyard acting out plays, camping, and other imaginative fun,. Hopefully, children today can use their examples as springboards for ideas in this department.

I couldn't help but love Louly--even when she ran off abruptly with her first "sweetheart" and left her sister and friends dumbfounded and lonely. I was surprised to be able to see so clearly into her friend, Chrys's soul about her feeling of her poem that didn't rhyme at first. I felt as nervous as Chrys, Poo-bah, and Chloe when Louly was giving her recitation.

I found this work fun to read but surprisingly satisfying to the spirit as well.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd like to give this fun summer sequel to 'Two Are Better Than One' a four and a half stars.

Louly is a fifteen-year-old left in charge of her younger sister and caring for her older brother while their parents go back east to visit their ailing grandmother. Louly is a girl with a love for playing-like, public speech, and living up to the adjective her mother gave her - responsible. She cares for her family with the assistance of Cordy and Crys, her neighbor friends, and their parents/guardians. Cordy and Crys love to be at the center of the action, and share in every chapter's adventure.

The summer unfolds with camping, parades, speeches, poems, concluding with an 'emergency' before the return of the parents. The kids have a barrel of fun, and some of the parts of the story made me laugh out loud.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other reviewers said, it was a bit jarring that Louly was never mentioned in the first book, but not so much that it ruined the story. Louly was a fun character, a good blend of responsible and mature but imaginative and fun. I liked Eddie Wendell, he was a fun semi-love interest whose relationship with Louly didn't take up the whole story, and I was glad to see Chrys and Cordy again! Poor Chrys, though, 13 isn't an easy age, and I felt so bad for her being embarrassed that she got a poem published. That's such an accomplishment! I'm glad she seemed to change her mind at the end.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood favorite, as I think all of Brink's books were, I enjoyed my reread very much. Interestingly, the only part I'd remembered was the cover and the part that it represented, but more came back as I was reading.

[Hessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a charming glimpse of another time. I didn't like it as much as Two Are Better Than One, but if I had a 10 year old daughter, I would love her to read it.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Louly reminds me of Julia Ray with her acting abilities and singing voice. Although Julia liked to be more refined and elegant than Louly, who manages to play like a kid while still attracting the attention of the cutest boy in town.

[Elizabeth Lund]

This was a nice light read

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite as charming and endearing as the first one, but it was still very enjoyable. It took me a while to get past the fact that two of the characters were nicknamed Ko-Ko and Poo-Bah! Speaking of Poo-Bah, she was quite a funny character that provided a lot of unintentional comic relief.

Like the previous book, this one reminded me a bit of the Betsy-Tacy books. There were even a few more B-T references, such as the play of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and a chapter title about "the great world." Plus, the small town setting and time period itself are reminiscent of Deep Valley.

I enjoyed reading about all the games the girls played. It sounded very much like the kind of thing I loved to play as a kid. I think my favorite part of the book was where Louly pretended she was the sophisticated teacher come to instruct the hillbilly children. It was also great fun to read about how Louly was able to make everyday tasks and chores so exciting. Imagination is a powerful thing! I love that this book captures that childhood magic.

Chrys and Cordy don't seem quite as close in this book as they were the first one. I relate more to Chrys, probably because the book is told through her perspective—and I am also an introvert who likes to write poetry (and knows what it's like to feel "a poem . . . coming on"). Like her, I also often have a feeling of being different and not really fitting in. But I suppose that is something that most readers have probably felt at one time or another. To tie up these themes, the book has a nice little lesson about being yourself and letting your talents shine. (The speech contest thing did seem a tad bit dishonest, though; I'm surprise that no one saw through that.)

I like Louly's words near the end of the story: “Nothing lovely is over and done for until the last person who remembers forgets” (197). She’s quite wise at her young age.