People who are space nuts may not realize that we know more about Mars than we know about some places on our own planet. Antarctica is one of these places. International treaties have dictated that Antarctica, the only place on earth with no native human population, be used for scientific endeavors, [...]

Helen was born in June of 1880 in a tiny town in northern Alabama. She was nineteen months old and had just begun to talk when she contracted an unnamed disease, described by her doctor only as “acute congestion of the stomach and brain.” The doctor’s prognosis was that Helen would not live. She pulled through, but not before the disease had robbed her of her sight and hearing.

An endearing quality about Wiggins’ writing is the wonderful detail with which she describes even the most minor of events. She is also very clever at describing the social milieu of the day, so clever that one would come to believe that she might be commenting on social realities such as class divisions.

Frankenstein may be a little soft on science (even to the point of calling science “natural philosophy”) and it is admittedly more about psychology, but it is nonetheless a fascinating study, encompassing such concepts as obsession, cowardice, irresponsibility, and retribution.

Although Kate Douglas Wiggin is famous for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, she can deal with some remarkably dark subjects for an obvious optimist. The Romance of a Christmas Card is in the end a story of strange coincidences that ultimately lead to redemption.