Thursday, June 14, 2012

30 Day Challenge! Day 12: Memory Lane

This next question takes one back to the dawn of time...

Not really, but to the dawn of memory, for sure!

Day 12: What is the first novel you remember reading?

Ahhh, I knew the answer to this question the moment I read it. It is (drum roll, please):




(Please excuse the "click to look inside" thingy...I wanted you to see the cover to the version I owned and read, as opposed to the type of covers they sell now.) Elsie's Holidays at Roselands is the 2nd in a long series (mama read the first book to me out loud) about - you guessed it - Elsie. These sweet stories were my absolute favorite growing up, and Elsie's Holiday at Roselands is certainly one of the best. In this book, she has overcome the fear of her stern, recently-returned father and is quite the happy little girl except for one thing: she desperately wishes her papa would "love Jesus more than anything." Tragedy strikes (again!) for little Elsie, though, when she refuses to break God's commands to obey her papa. Outraged that she would dare to believe she owed obedience to anyone over him, Elsie's father leaves, telling her he will not see her again until she is ready to obey. Heartbroken, little Elsie eventually worries herself sick to the point of death. Of course, God had a reason for this, and when Elsie's life is spared, her papa, Mr. Dinsmore, recognizes it as the Lord's work and dedicates his life to Him, making Elsie the happiest little girl in the world.

See? Definitely one of the best of the series.

But this main story line is not why I remember it as my first novel - oh no. Do you see the picture on the front? Elsie receives a new doll from her papa after spraining her ankle badly; I remember reading this book because I had just hurt my own ankle and was lying stretched out on the couch in our living room myself!

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And that's my first novel, to the best of my recollection. What's yours?
 


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