You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
This was my favorite book growing up and rereading it I can see how much it shaped me!
Would be 5 stars if they didn’t fat shame Gladys so much??
Would be 5 stars if they didn’t fat shame Gladys so much??
I think that it was interesting. I loved Virginia's stories or traveling around the world, but other then that, the story was a bit sad. The ending was happy and sad.
My favorite childhood book. Rich descriptions and the ultimate book for the escapist. I should really reread!
This was my favorite book ever! The stories that the woman tells in this book are phenominal and so "I want to do that!!!!" I love it. It's a must read!
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cornelia S. Englehart lives in a wonderful world of complicated words, intentionally isolated from people who don’t quite understand her. When Virginia Somerset moves in next door with Patel and Mister Kinyatta Cornelia allows herself to be led into the world Virginia creates, where adventure and love are plentiful. Although constantly ready to flee back into her cocoon of words with numerous syllables, Cornelia realizes that the world is a much more exhilarating place than she thought - and that words can bring people together. It gives young readers a great introduction to the feeling of wanderlust, nostalgia, and adventure.
For me, this book is more than just a book. It is the book that made me fall in love with books. I related to Cornelia in more ways than I can admit, and I’ve found myself coming back to Cornelia and Virginia for years, ever since I was struck by the cover at Barnes and Noble more than 15 years ago. There are times, though, reading it through adult eyes, that the characters of color feel formulaic and a little bit “token”. So it hasn’t aged as well as I’d hope.
If I could pick only one book to describe myself, my dreams, and my personality, it would be this one. Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters will always have a very treasured place in my heart. I read it for the first time at 8 years old and immediately fell in love. I saw myself in Cornelia and Virginia, and the storytelling spoke to my soul in a way no other book (save for Harry Potter) had thus far in my reading life. Rereading it now, I’m transported back to how I felt, discovering a whole new world of adventures, but ones that could happen in real life. For that’s what this book is. It makes you feel like you’re reading a fantasy, the storytelling is captivating and it’s escapism at its finest, but it shows you the wonder in places and people that exist in our world. Looking at this book, I’m astonished at how much of my personality, my incessant wanderlust particularly, that I’ve picked up from this story. Reading this book in my formative years truly helped to change me into the person I am today. This story speaks to my soul and will always live in my heart, and to say I adore it is an understatement. Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters will always be one of my favorite books of all time and I know I’ll reread it many more times over the years, when I want to feel the childlike sense of wonder I always do when experiencing this book. There are absolutely not enough words to describe how I feel about the story and these characters, since I don’t think anything but the book itself could ever do them justice.
I think this was the first book to make me tear up. Although I don't remember it much as I read it when I was 10, I do remember it being a beautiful story.
The cover is very cute (with Mister Kinyatta on it), but it's a little misleading, and doesn't do justice to such a wonderful little book. I loved the story and the author's style of writing. A combination of funny, sweet, sad, and tender. (Great vocabulary expander as Cornelia loves to read dictionaries and use big words to protect herself and put people off.) Loved it!