The Secret Garden OR A Guide to Building a Family

~ Tell us the title: The Secret Garden
~ Who penned this work?: Francis Hodgson Burnett
~ How did this piece find it's way to your nightstand?: It was my Grandmother's favorite book.  I felt a great connection to her by reading it and could easily place her as one of the characters in the book.
~ Number of pages: 234
~ Time passed from start to finish?: Don't remember. It didn't take long.
~ Describe the cover: A young girl (Mary Lennox) stooping in front of an ivy-covered wall, inserting a key into a lock.
~ In what section of the bookstore would a reader find this?: Classics Maybe?
~ Summary of the basic plot: Mary's a spoiled rotten brat forced to move into her uncle's house when her parents die of cholera.  What unfolds is an unexpected welcoming of love and care from a family that is not her own (aka - not her uncle).
~ Background information on the story/author:  Hodgson Burnett was a woman born in England than started writing for journal publications to help her family make money.  Her writing earned her money and later fame as she moved to writing novels.
~ What did you think of it? (your general response, what you liked or didn't like, what you learned, anything else you want to share about it):  I loved it.  Even though its target is children, its still a novel with lessons and themes that can be applied at any stage in life.  The reading flowed smoothly and lacked slow moments and extraneous details.
~ Choose your rating:
          - Changed. My. Life. It really was a great connection to my grandmother and helped me reconcile her passing.  She was a fantastic woman that treated everyone as family and her love and companionship will always be missed.
          - I laughed, I cried, I want you to read it
          - A definite page-turner
          - Good to check out but don't spend the cash.
          - Why did I waste my weekend on this?
          - A disgrace to paper everywhere