Favorite Obscure Books

The Village Voice has asked writers to list their favorite obscure books -- I'm not sure what makes for an obscure book, but I hadn't heard of any of the ones on their list, so I guess that's pretty obscure. My favorite obscure book? Lis Sails the Atlantic, by Lis Andersen. A young girl's dad, in the 1920s, sells everything and buys an ocean-going boat so they can sail the world and see what can be seen. It's supposedly a true story written by the 10-year-old Lis, and (I suppose this is the Daddy in me talking) it's very endearing; that sort of adventure just doesn't happen anymore, a girl's adventure on top of it, and it's not one of those "the parents aren't around so the kids handle everything" kind of story that dominates children's literature. It is, however, rather dated, and the descriptions of the ports they visit may be intriguing to me, but, when viewed through the eyes of a young Scandinavian girl born in the 19th century, the big picture might be lost on young readers. I've tried to get my adventuresome daughter to read it, but she's more into Goosebumps and vampires these days. *sigh*.

Speaking of Destiny: she's planning on reviving her book review website this summer -- it proved to be too much work during the school-year, but she'll have plenty of time to write over the break.