My baby cousin shows her way of eating chicken drumsticks.










Finally... I managed to read a book called 'A Little Princess'. It is a 1905 children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I know...I know...You all think that I read teenagers and adults fiction. Well, I do read children's novel. In fact, I enjoy them. This is a last minute reading in the school's library. Here's the image of a book cover of 'A Little Princess'.



Summary

Seven-year-old Sara Crewe is sent to live at Miss Minchin's boarding school in London. Her father, Captain Crewe, is a doting young man who leaves instructions that his daughter is to be given a private room with a parlour, a maid, and anything else she might desire in his absence. The school's headmistress, Miss Minchin, privately believes that Sara is intolerably spoiled due to her father's indulgence, but Minchin is impressed by Captain Crewe's fortune and quickly turns the well-dressed, well-mannered Sara into a show pupil.

Far from being spoiled, Sara is a bright, imaginative, and empathetic child who loves books and storytelling. In short order she befriends even the most outcast of her fellow pupils, including the scullery maid Becky. Miss Minchin does not approve of such friendships, but she is willing to tolerate them for fear that Sara will complain to her father. A few of the older students are openly jealous of Sara's fortune and give her the mocking nickname of "Princess Sara" in reference to her wealth and perfect manners. The nickname first embarrasses Sara, but soon she adopts it as a reminder to be generous to others.

On Sara's eleventh birthday, news arrives that Captain Crewe has died in India, having lost all his fortune due to investments made by a friend. Sara is left a pauper, her school bills unpaid, and Miss Minchin, now saddled with a student she has never liked, turns Sara into a servant in order to pay off her debts. Sara is given a room in the attic next to Becky, the scullery maid she befriended.

For the next three years, Sara is overworked and half-starved. In her loneliness, she uses her imagination to comfort herself, turning her attic room into the Bastille and Becky into a fellow prisoner. Sara does her best to keep up with her studies and to remember her good breeding and manners, even though this makes her unpopular with her fellow servants and with Miss Minchin, who believes that Sara has not yet realised her new station. Sara tries harder than ever to pretend she is a princess in order to keep herself from despair, but discovers that even her imagination is not enough to pretend away cold and hunger.

A second section of the story develops when Sara sees a new family moving into the house across the street. Having been born in India, she recognises many of the furnishings as Indian and the master's servant as an Indian lascar. Upon learning that the master of the house is ill with the same "brain-fever" that killed her own father, Sara begins to pity him and weaves him into her fantasies, referring to him in her mind as "the Indian gentleman." The Indian lascar takes up residence in the attic across from Sara's own, and she is able to speak to him in his native Hindustani. Intrigued, the lascar, with the help of his master's solicitor, slips into Sara's attic while she is asleep and leave her gifts of warm bedding, food, and books. Sara awakens the next morning thinking that "the Magic" of her fantasies has somehow been made real.

Every day, the comforts in the attic are added to, and Sara shares them with Becky. Finally a delivery of new clothes comes for Sara, and Miss Minchin, worried that someone has revived an interest in Sara's case, allows her to attend school with the other students. When Sara returns to her attic, she finds that the lascar's pet monkey has escaped and taken refuge in her room. The following morning, she crosses the street to return the monkey and to at last meet "the Indian gentleman", whose real name is Carrisford.

Carrisford enquires as to Sara's name and circumstances, only to realise that Sara is the formerly missing child of Captain Crewe. Carrisford, it is revealed, was the friend who lost Captain Crewe's fortune, only to have it revived after Crewe's death. Knowing that Crewe had a child, Carrisford has spent the last three years searching boarding schools across the Continent for Sara.

Miss Minchin, upon learning that Sara's fortune has been returned to her, attempts to convince Sara into returning to her school. But Sara has already told her new guardian about Miss Minchin's avarice and cruel treatment. Sara sends for Becky to come and live with her as her own maid, and Miss Minchin is humiliated.

Extracted from 'Wikipedia:The World's Encyclopaedia'.

Sorry because I do not have enough time to write a summary because I am very busy with exams in school.

Review

The writing is charming and Sara comes through as a person who is determined to maintain her values, through good times and bad. She has a definite personality and that is a good role model for any child. She stays true to her beliefs in being kind, mannerly, charitable and above all, herself.

The magic in this book is unsurpassed in children's literature. When Sara comes home, wet and cold and neglected, to find that a magician has transformed her world, you can't help but be enchanted.

This book's moral states that everyone can be a princess when they put their minds to it. Being a princess is not about the fame and fortune, but about how you act in the situation into which you have been placed. You can be kind, or you can be mean; you can be content, or you can be greedy; you can be upset, or you can be optimistic. The book really relates to people who are going thruogh tough times in their lives and need reasurance and confidence. I will admit to reading it again now. The charm is still there.

By the way, this brilliant novel has been adapted to film, television and musical as well. I watched the 1995 version and it was fantastic. The film was directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fim also won many awards.




I did not read any books.... So...sorry!!!! I promise that I will read a book in April.


Sorry, folks:( I didn't read any books either this month... It's been a very busy month for me...You know that I'm form five now...


Sorry, I did not read any books this month. So there will be no book of the month for the month of January 2009. Sorry.


Well, I called 089-211222-Sandakan's police phone number. It was not my neighbour who played fire works. It was a house down the road. It was so annoying!! I was studying history from chapter 1 to 10 because I'm having History Excel Paper 2. A very difficult paper indeed. I really can't stand it anymore. So I took the action of calling the police. Here was the conversation. It was smooth.

(In Malay language)
Police : Hello, here is Sandakan's police station. What can I do for you?
Me : Hello. I would like to lodge a complaint on fire works in my
neighbourhood.
Police : Oh, did you say fire works? Miss, can you give me your address?
Me : Sure. (I told him my address).
Police : Thank you, miss. I will send a police patrol to your neighbourhood in a
few minutes. Thank you for calling.
Me : Thank you.

And guess what? A few minutes later, a police car came because I saw the police car from my house. Unfortunately, the guy was not putting anymore fire works!! The police officers came at the wrong time. Ughhh!!!! The guy was standing by the roadside and noticed that there was a police car passing by. Luckily, after that no more fire works:)


Mostly, neighbours are always mentioned very nice in books, etc. But in my case, it isn't. I SCORN my neighbour. Why do I hate them? They are noisy especially the kids. They are like screaming everyday. What is worse is that they scream and cry out loud at around 10 -11 pm. They're like 5-6 years old. Aren't they supposed to be sleeping at this hour?

Another thing is that they play those annoying fire crackers! Last Sunday, I was watching 'Defiance'(a war movie). And then suddenly, there was a loud BOOM outside my house. I thought that there was really a bomb dropping from the sky outside my house! Damn them, they were playing fire crackers. Ughhh!!! Yesterday, I was having physics tuition. The same thing happened. A lot of BOOM!!BANG!! heard from my tuition place. It was so f****** annoying. We were studying about waves with full attention. If they play fire works again tonight, I really am going to call the police.