Camilla [Hardcover]

Madeleine L'Engle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2009

Fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson has led a sheltered life on the Upper East Side with her architect father and stunningly beautiful mother. But this winter the security she has always known has vanished, because her parents’ marriage is coming apart – and Camilla is caught in the middle. She finds a way to escape her troubles when she meets Frank, her best friend’s brother, who is someone she can really talk to about life, death, God, and her dream of becoming an astronomer. When Frank introduces her to the important people in his life, who are so different from anyone she has met before, he opens her eyes to worlds beyond her own, almost as if he were a telescope helping her to see the stars.

This novel, one of the author’s earliest, is the story of a girl who, with the help of her first love, leaves childhood behind and enters adulthood with a newfound sense of self and inner strength.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Struggling to make sense of all that conflict, walking the snowy city streets with a boy named Frank, Camilla tries to fathom the sweet, slow progress of desire.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

From the Publisher

Life had always been easy for fifteen-year-old Camilla Dickinson. But now her parents, whom she had always loved and trusted, are behaving like strangers to each other and vying for her allegiance. Camilla is torn between her love for them and her disapproval of their actions.

Then she meets Frank, her best friend's brother, who helps her to feel that she is not alone. Can Camilla learn to accept her parents for what they are and step toward her own independence? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (April 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374310319
• ISBN-13: 978-0374310318
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Madeleine L'Engle, the popular author of many books for children and adults, has interspersed her writing and teaching career with raising three children, maintaining an apartment in New York and a farmhouse of charming confusion which is called "Crosswicks."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written, Heartfelt, Philosophical Novel, August 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Camilla (Laurel Leaf Books) (Paperback)

I recently finished this book - CAMILLA - by Madeleine L'Engle. I had picked it out simply because L'Engle is one of my favorite authors and I hope to collect all - or most - or her works someday ... certainly I had not expected it to be so well written, with a total understanding of the thoughts, words, and actions of teenage girls, especially those with disagreeing parents. Which, of course, it was. Camilla Dickinson, the title character, is a girl in her middle teens whose father is a stern and undemonstrative architect, and whose mother always has a Jacques around. Camilla suspects that Mrs. Dickinson is seeing Jacques, but knows it for sure when she walks in on them kissing. CAMILLA is about this girl trying to deal with the fact that she is an individual - and nobody else is like her, and most may not be thinking about her as she is at her bedroom window, wondering if they are - and her parents are, too, individuals: Faulted and unique individuals, and she has to accept them as that. Her best friend is also going through parental disagreements. Her brother, Frank, takes an interest in Camilla and the two spend hours together. I especially like their special talks, where they philosophize about death, life, religion, and how their existence came about. The end, I felt, but satisfying but unexpected. I assure you, if you read this book, you will A) love it; and B) not be able to put it down until you've finished it. I urge you, in the name of good books, read it!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book!, June 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Camilla (Laurel Leaf Books) (Paperback)

I loved this book! I really felt that the main characters were real people and I could understand how they were feeling really well. I also thought that the author captured teenagers' feelings very well especially since she is an older author. The romance was also very nice and not sappy with no excessive hugging or kissing.One of my favorite things about the book was that the two main characters had wonderful meaningful conversations about the world and death. They were conversations that really made you think. I have to admit however that the ending was rather disappointing because I got really into the book and then it just kind of ended. The sequel, "A Live Coal Under the Sea," is pretty good too but is actually an adult book that I would suggest for people 13/14 or older. Even though the ending is kind of weak, I suggest that you read "Camilla" by Madeleine L'Engle!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Bildungsroman, March 27, 2001

By 

"kaia_espina" (Quezon City, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Camilla (Laurel Leaf Books) (Paperback)

I've read "Camilla" during different stages in my life and have found new meaning in the novel each time. I have always loved the book for its rich imagery and descriptions of everything from New York's Central Park to a piano concerto by Prokofiev. I also love it for its strong protagonist, Camilla Dickinson, who can seem unbelievably perfect for a teenage girl. After all, she isn't just intelligent and sensitive, but she also has a sense of the cosmic and the beautiful. For instance, she reads the classics not because she is forced to at school but because she likes reading them.

Another thing fascinating about the book is that each character has his or her own take on what Life is. These philosophies are great to take apart when analyzing each character's motivations. Madeleine L'Engle is good at writing books with many different characters because she can give each one a different take on Life (as she does here), on Death ("A Ring of Endless Light"), on Love ("A House Like a Lotus"), and on Existence and the Universe (any book in the Time Quartet).

The plot is basically about how a young girl, in the course of a few weeks, becomes a young woman. The story is deeper and richer than that description, however. What makes "Camilla" stand out among other bildungsroman stories for young people is the fact that its protagonist's "growing pains" are less troubling and awful than usual, not because the author gave her a break, but because she had learned to cushion her fall into adulthood with a strong faith in the beauty and goodness in the Universe. If I could compare Camilla Dickinson to any other person, real-life or fictional, I would pick Anne Frank.