A review by cmbohn
Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge

2.0

would only be tolerable if abridged. I liked the story of Hans and his little family, their tragedy and their determination to get through it. But then somehow we got this group of young boys who were allowed to spend a winter holiday unsupervised with plenty of money skating all over Amsterdam, having various adventures, and delivering long tedious lessons about Dutch life and history and culture to the token English boy who makes all this slightly plausible. I SOOOOOOO didn't care. If want to read Dutch history - and I wouldn't mind, actually - I will, but if I want to read about the Brinkers, and I did when I picked up the book, TELL ME THE STORY YOU STARTED IN THE FIRST PLACE! Skipped to end, where of course, everything turned out happily ever after. So there.