The Secret Carousel

by Claudia Mills

When Lindy's parents are killed in an automobile accident, she goes to live with her grandparents. Next door to their house is a carousel in which Lindy's grandfather carved the animals.

When her older sister goes to New York to be a ballet dancer, ten-year-old Lindy chafes at the dullness of life with her grandparents in a small Iowa town.

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Claudia Mills is the author of Nixie Ness, Cooking Star, 7 x 9 = Trouble!, Zero Tolerance, Write This Down, and many other books for children. She was born in New York City in 1954. She received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College, her master's degree from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University. She also received an M.L.S. degree from the University of Maryland, with a concentration in children's literature. She had a second career as a professor of philosophy at the Colorado at Boulder, until leaving that career in 2014 to write full time. She now teaches in the graduate program in children's literature at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. All of her books have been written between 5 and 7 in the morning while drinking Swiss Miss hot chocolate.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/claudi...

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know, maybe I waited to long to read this book (it's been on my shelf for a while...years!) it was ok, but definitely something for a child. As a teen, i got kinda frustrated with the main character Lindy but also in a way could see how a child would really see things the same as she did/does.

[Grace Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my old and sappy era, I suppose, as this little gem made me a bit teary-eyed 🥺

Our protag Lindy is a headstrong 10 year old who has an older sis Joan, who practices ballet day and night. They live with their "Pops" and "Gram" (their grandparents) in a tiny town called Three Churches, and have done so after the death of their parents in a tragic car accident. After Joan is accepted into the Ballet Corps in exciting NY, the duty of "looking after" Pops and Gram unfairly fails on little Lindy.

Lindy dreams of an exciting life in NY with her sister, not in boring-ass Three Churches, Iowa, where all her grandma does is knit, and the highlight of grandpa's day is waiting for the mailman. Sure, there's a secret carousel in this book. But it's not a huge factor, although it is sweet, sad and charming to read about. What this book really does, in its descriptive and vivid prose, is draw you in to Lindy's melancholy and insular world. It's gonna tug at your heartstrings if you too have elderly parents or grandparents who want the world for you and would do anything for you but also love having you close to them. The decision you make-whether to stay or leave-may not be an easy one. Lindy arrives at her choice with startling clarity and the reader can't help but wish the brightest future for this little darling.

Highly recommend this one.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello!

[Shawnee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pops was my favorite character.