Meet the Austins: The Austin Family Chronicles, Book 1 | 
| Author: Madeleine L'engle
Publisher: Square Fish
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 141343
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0312379315
EAN: 9780312379315
ASIN: 0312379315
Publication Date: September 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Amazon.com Review
Reading award-winning author Madeleine L'Engle's IMeet the Austins/I is like taking a vacation with the warm, compassionate Austins--an extraordinary family who takes a little girl named Maggy Hamilton under its wing when her father is killed in a plane accident. Adjusting to a new household member is not easy, as the 12-year-old narrator, Vicky, will testify. Maggy is spoiled, "ubiquitous," laughs in a "horrid, screechy way," and appears to be a child of an entirely different species from the thoughtful, intelligent, kind, yet not cloyingly so, Austin kids. Still, Vicky and her other siblings (Rob, Suzy, and John) grit their collective teeth and struggle to understand her, which becomes easier and easier as the loving family seems to rub off on the newly orphaned Maggy.p The Austins are beyond question a charming family, but their path is by no means rock-free: Vicky sneaks off to a friend's house and severely injures herself in a bike accident, they all get the measles, John is beat up after his guest sermon in church, and they almost lose little Rob. Despite ordinary family setbacks, there's no use pretending this is a run-of-the-mill family. When Vicky is sick, her older brother, John, comes into her room and soothes her with a discussion of the solar system, our atomic composition, and the relativity of size. Family dinner-table talk includes the ethics of meat eating, and a chat with Grandfather ends up with a discussion of whether Einstein believed in God. As in all of L'Engle's novels, she asks the big questions: What is the meaning of life, and how does death fit into that? Are there different kinds of intelligence? What happens when you remove a screw from a radiator? This strangely comforting novel, first published in 1960, is an ALA Notable Book, and was followed by four other books featuring the Austin Family: IThe Moon by Night/I, IThe Young Unicorns/I, IA Ring of Endless Light/I (a Newbery Honor Book), and ITroubling a Star/I. (Ages 9 to 12) I--Karin Snelson/I
Product Description
DIVFor a family with four kids, two dogs, assorted cats, and a constant stream of family and friends dropping by, life in the Austin family home has always been remarkably steady and contented. When a family friend suddenly dies in a plane crash, the Austins open their home to an orphaned girl, Maggy Hamilton. The Austin children#8212;Vicky, John, Suzy, and Rob#8212;do their best to be generous and welcoming to Maggy.BR Vicky knows she should feel sorry for Maggy, but having sympathy for Maggy is no easy thing. Maggy is moody and spoiled; she breaks toys, wakes people in the middle of the night screaming, discourages homework, and generally causes chaos in the Austin household. How can one small child disrupt a family of six? Will life ever return to normal?/DIV
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 wonderful family book July 13, 2008
This is a lovely, perceptive story of family life in a small New England town--written by the author of _A Wrinkle in Time_, it sparkles with the same fine attention to personality and to the reactions of a loving family in a crisis
Why I love Meet the Austins November 10, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Meet the Austins is a humerous, touching book that cannot be simply summed up with a plot line. Madeline L'engle has done a superb job of creating characters that are believeable and can be easily sympathised with. I have read this book countless times and it never gets old, I always enjoy it just as much each time I read it.
Great and realistic October 11, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was great! I absolutely loved it! It is very true, too. A lot of kids go through what Vicky goes through. I think this was a really well written book with a lot of metaphors... a work of art. 5 stars!
 Politics and plot drag down this charming family portrait August 30, 2005
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
Young Vicky Austin narrates as she and her clan try to apply their ultra-functional family dynamics to help Maggy, a girl who was spoiled rotten until her parents died in a plane crash. br /br /At first, Maggy runs right over the polite and restrained Austin family, but eventually goodness and civility seep into her, as administered by the kind and wise parents. A double crisis arises in the book's climax; while the Austin parents are at a meeting where Maggy's fate will be decided, Rob, the youngest Austin, turns up missing. br /br /There are many good elements in this book, yet I wouldn't recommend it over scores of better books. The book is, first and foremost, an idealized portrait of a strong family unit living a life in the country. Money is never an issue, as the father is a doctor, and the family's energies are devoted to becoming paragons of virtue. br /br /There are some awfully sweet moments in the book, and brash Maggy is a character who will earn both our disapproval and our sympathy. Vicky, the narrator, has feelings that are very realistic, as she struggles with problems that may seem very familiar to an adolescent reader. br /br /We get a sense of how wonderful a community a family can be, if it is isolated from the intrusion of the outside world. Family songs, group readings, piano session and other wholesome pasttimes keep the Austins together and, for the most part, happy. br /br /On balance, however, the book's strong suits are overwhelmed by contrivances and preachiness. The plot meanders; while Maggy's situation and fate are always up in the air, there is never a real sense that she will be taken from the Austins. Meanwhile, many of the episodes, such as when a reading of Charlotte's Web persuades Suzy to give up ham, simply aren't very interesting. Also, the characterization of the children is seriously flawed. While they have realistic emotions, they are supernaturally able to articulate those emotions. Their powers of self-analysis, and their ability to overcome pettiness, just doesn't ring true.br /br /Another problem that I had with the book was the stealthy insertion of religious views. Early in the book, we are treated to Rob's comically cute bedtime prayers, which is fine. But the last few chapters introduce a brilliant religious grandfather who prompts a dinner discussion about how Einstein believed in God (among other religious topics). I think it's fine to portray a religious family practicing their religion, but when the text is hijacked by a very clumsy presentation of a belief system, it becomes a problem for me.br /br /This is also evident in the resolution to Suzy's refusal to eat ham. John, the eldest son, presents a "scientific" argument to Suzy about why vegetarianism is wrong, and that's pretty much the end of it. The biggest points in his argument are that not eating meat is unhealthy, and that eating a pig is, ethically, no different than killing and eating a carrot. I won't go into it here, but these points are very off-base. That they are presented as fact, with no counter-argument, represents a bad job.br /br /Believe it or not, I am a huge L'Engle fan, and I highly recommend her "Wrinkle in Time" series, including the religiously inclined "Many Waters." This book, however, should be pretty far down on your list. If you would like a portrait of a wholesome, God-fearing family that is less objectionable, I would recommend the Little House on the Prairie series.br /
Incredible! January 15, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book deals alot with feelings of the typical 12 year old, even if it is set further back in time. Something that would be great for a mom and a daughter to read and then discuss together, because... they can both relate to it!br /Plus, it leaves so much for you to talk about!
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