A review by triscuit807
The Golden Name Day by Jennie D. Lindquist, Garth Williams

3 stars. Nine year old Nancy's mother is ill, so she is sent to the country to stay with family friends, i.e. "fake" grandparents who in turn have adult children who are "fake" aunts and uncles who in turn have three girls who are "cousins". They're of Swedish descent and Nancy arrives in time to celebrate Grandma's name day; there's a yearly Almanac that for each day of the year lists a Swedish name. Since she thinks that it's a lovely custom Nancy wants to celebrate HER name day. Unfortunately, neither her first nor middle name are in the book...what can Nancy do? While I enjoyed the exploration of customs and some of the outdoor adventures Nancy has in spring and early summer, for the most part I found the story to be too girly. I was never a child that liked dolls or enjoyed paper dolls so reading about playing with them did nothing for me. I did enjoy the animals with the odd names. I read this for my 2020 Reading Challenge (52 Wks 2019 "immigrant character") and my Newbery Challenge (Honor 1956). I read this via Open Library/Internet Archive due to library closures amid the Covid 19 pandemic.