[.ca] Mandy (ISBN 0061207071)

From Amazon.com:
For an orphan child whose life is filled with comfortable, predictable sameness, with no particular hardships, life is, well, all right. Really, what does Mandy have to worry about? So it comes as a surprise even to Mandy when a small restlessness begins to grow in her. This lonely ache sets her to wandering farther afield, and leads her to a startling and wonderful discovery over the orphanage wall--a very old, very small, seemingly abandoned cottage. Embarking on a clandestine domestic fantasy involving gardening tools and soap flakes, Mandy finds herself being less than honest about where and how she's spending her days. Holding her secret closer and closer to her heart, this imaginative dreamer inadvertently endangers her reputation--and her life. For every child who has fallen in love with The Secret Garden or A Little Princess, Julie Andrews Edwards's 1971 novel will be a heartwarming discovery. Any sometimes-lonely child with a giant imagination will recognize Mandy's dreams and rejoice in her ultimate fairy-tale happy ending. Judith Gwyn Brown's Edward Gorey-esque pen and ink drawings (with none of Gorey's sinister air) are quietly memorable. Fans of Julie Andrews Edwards--Sound of Music star of stage and screen--will be thrilled to see her latest children's book, Little Bo: The Story of Bonnie Boadicea, or to an earlier favorite, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

WOW!!!:
Well, this book blew me away! i simply loved it !!!!!. Its enchanting, exciting and most of all (and this is what i personally look for in a book) it has that kind of effect that makes you want to be IN the story. It is all about a girl, 10, who lives at an orphanage. Another i liked about this story is that the orpahnage isn't like all the other orphanages in othee stories. In other stories or most of them the ophanage is always bad and gloomy. Well, thats not the case here! Anywho Mandy climbs over the "big wall" which divinds the orphanages property, for the very first time and find a cottage. She starts working on it and fixing it up. It is a WONDERFUL story and if your looking to relax and read a good book then this is the one.

One girl...One secret...One whole new life!:
From the minute I picked Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards I kew it would be a great book! How many times did I read it, 5 times. This is my favorite book of all times! I would definatly recomed this book to everyone I know!

Mandy:
Mandy lives in a orphanage, and though she's relativly happy, she still dreams about what it would be like to have a place of her very own, away from the hustle and the bustle of the orphanage. She dreams that beyond the high wall that encircles the orphanage is an enchanted forest, home to unicorns and other untold wonders, as well as her very own Prince Charming, who no doubt lives in a castle and allows the creatures to come inside during the cold! Eventually her curiosity prompts her to sneak off one day and climb the wall, and once on the other side she follows a path through the forest. What she finds though is not a castle, but instead an abandoned cottage, shabby and umkempt from years of neglect. Immediatly the cottage mesmerizizes her, and she realizes that this is the very place she's been seeking! A place she can call her own! She embarks on a journey to fix the place up, sneaking out as often as she can to dust and sweep and tend to the little garden, pulling weeds and planting flowers and making it beautiful again. But how long will she be able to keep it up? Will the kindly but concerned Matron Bridie forbid her from going? Will she be able to keep it a secret? And will she ever find her Prince Charming? This charming book is perfect for anyone who's ever dreamed of having a secret place to call their own! I have read it many times and it never gets old!

Amazing Read for All Ages:
Ten-year-old orphan, Mandy, feels like she has nothing of her own, and almost lost among the other thirty children at the orphanage run by Ms. Bridie, where she resides. She dreams of having her very own place, where she can spend time quietly by herself, and where she'll feel as if she belongs. So when she climbs over the large, stone, orphanage wall to explore the outside world, Mandy is ecstatic to find a lonely little stone cottage, hidden among the forest trees and shrubberies. With a few items that she borrows from the orphanage, the cottage becomes a home away from home for Mandy, and a place that she can call her own. To protect her secret place, Mandy lies, and tells no one of where she disappears to for hours at a time. But when she becomes terribly sick, and the people who love her are unable to find her, she must rely on the help of a secret admirer, whom she never knew she had. After reading MANDY, I am amazed to see that famed screen actress Julie Andrews, is as talented a writer, as she is a singer and film star. Andrews writes in such a poetic, and descriptive way, that helps the reader to imagine that they are really there alongside Mandy, helping her to tend to her beloved garden, and taking walks amongst the lovely forest. Mandy is a kind and intelligent young character, who longs for a family, and a place to call her own, whom you feel for greatly. Overall, the book MANDY was an amazing, and powerful read that will be loved by all, young and old. Do not miss this delightful story. Erika Sorocco

A Place To Call Our Own:
I simply adore this book from start to finish. Mandy is a girl we all can relate to in one way or another. Simple, sweet, idealistic, and yes, she isn't perfect. When she come upon a small hidden cottage near her orphanage grounds, this little girl sets out to make it a place to call it her own -A refuge she can run to and place she can care for to ease her loneliness. We feel her disappointments and rejoice in her victories, we even feel the love for those whom she loves. This is a book about longing, wishes, and finding happiness. A pleasureable read for anyone who has ever felt alone in life.