Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M. M. Blume (Yearling Books/Random House, 2006)

I rarely re-read books but this book definitely warrants reading again and again. The book of which I speak is Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters. Cornelia is a girl who lives in Greenwich Village in New York City. Her mother is a famous concert pianist, who is always out of the country for concert. So Cornelia is always left with the French housekeeper, who frankly drives young Cornelia insane. Cornelia is a girl who values her privacy, which she likes to fill with reading. In order to deter the bothersome housekeeper from interrupting her, she uses large words that intimidate the housekeeper.

Cornelia has a hard time trusting adults because in most cases they are usually using her to get close to her famous mother. Well one day that all changes. The famous writer Virginia Somerset moves  into the apartment beside Cornelia, with her companion Patel and her little French bulldog named Mr. Kinyata. Cornelia and Virginia befriend each other and Cornelia is delighted to discover that Virginia is only interested in Cornelia because of her own extraordinary nature and not her mother’s.

Virginia is filled with many stories of her and her three sister’s adventurous world travels. The icing on the cake is that Virginia has decorated every room in her house to honor one of the countries she has lived in with her sisters. There is the Moroccan room, the French drawing room, and the best of all, her Indian bedroom, to name a few. Cornelia is so thrilled at having her own friend that she keeps her relationship with Virginia a secret from her mother and the housekeeper.

Well I don’t want to give away to much because I want people to read this book. It is a young adult book but that just does not matter; This is a book for people of all ages to enjoy. I don’t mean to cheese out on you, but this book makes you laugh and cry. Both times I have finished this book I closed the book with a smile on my face. I hope other people love this book as much as my friend and I did. -Ellen

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