Special Guest--Beyond Bluestocking, Part 1

First, let me offer a sincere apology for my absence.  Holidays, illness, semester finals . . . it was a bit much to keep up with and offer a quality post.  I did have a bit of time to investigate other blogs and found a gem.

Beyond Bluestocking is a new friend and wonderful thinker, one who contemplates any number of things on any given day.  She says:

Calvinist or Arminian? …..Is Charlotte Mason’s philosophy on education better than the Classical method? …….. What on earth shall I cook for dinner?  These are some of the questions that occupy my time. In my spare time, I homeschool my four children, love my husband, occasionally clean my house, read lots, play with my new EOS 1000D, and try to gain a technical knowledge worthy of my I’m-so-in-love-with-it Macintosh G4 power book.

The Bluestockings were a group of women who wanted more education, more literary involvement. I love books, I enjoy politics, learning is like a drug, and I like the idea that women have talents and skills.  I am a bible believing, old paths, literal six day creationist Christian, with conservative political leanings, a desire to see families strengthened, a thirst for truth, a mild redneck flavour to my view of life, and an inclination to share.  I want not to be lured into thinking that education of itself is worthy of worship. Hence, the goal to go beyond the feminist mindset I had been raised with.  I wanted to remind myself that while education is important, there is something more, something better!

Her book reviews are based on this philosophy and a sound knowledge of her childrens' interests, capabilities and limits.  Hailing from the land down under, Australia, she offers to broaden our library a bit.  She has kindly agreed to let me share some with you.


I have been madly pre-reading in attempts to find, and stockpile, appropriate books for the four little Bluestockings to while away the hours of our upcoming travel.  After listening to The Scarlet Pimpernel on Librivox (Karen Savage does a fantastic job of reading!), the Chicklette(my daughter) begged me to read The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel, so she could take both books on holidays. This was no great hardship.  While the historical characters are not strictly drawn, these books are a gentle, amusing, although sometimes improbable, introduction to the Reign of Terror, post the French Revolution. I’m not sure if a boy would enjoy them so much: for my girls, it was just enough dashing adventure and suspense,with a slender thread of romance woven through, to keep them asking for more.


Wolf by the Ears, by Ann Rinaldi, is the story of Harriet Hemmings. Born to the slave mistress of Thomas Jefferson, she is fair skinned with red hair, and is raised in a hazy no man’s land, between slavery and privilege.  The book details her struggle to come to terms with the reality of her slave status; the truth of her parentage; and the frightening reality that should her master, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of independence, die, she could be sold to pay his debts.  This was an interesting read, but given the adult themes (not so much the slavery, as the relationships) I have given it a 16 years rating for our household. 

Hope you find these as interesting as I did.  There is more Beyond Bluestocking to come!