APPLE TREE COTTAGE

Laid in the Philadelphia suburbs of 1842, this is a fast- moving and interesting story of 14 year old Susan and her little sister, Candace. Father was a cabinet maker in winter, but in the summer he followed his real profession, painting, and the girls traveled the roads with him in a caravan. How they found the little home of their dreams and how they stumble upon the solution of a robbery that has been puzzling the countryside is lots of fun. There's entertainment in the description of Susan's ride to Philadelphia on one of those devilish new contraptions, the railroad train, which belched forth smoke and set fire to the passengers' clothes, and there's an unusual touch in her job of coloring the plates for the fashion magazine of the day, Godey's Lady's Book. Readers of this age like their plot to wind up to a climax where everything fits together nicely, so perhaps this is not too great a fault. Good sized but not insultingly large type will encourage practice reading.