All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown

All-Of-A-Kind Family Uptown by Sydney Taylor

So, technically, this is the third All-of-a-Kind Family book.  It’s also one of the best. Taylor wrote All-of-a-Kind Family, More All-of-a-Kind Family and All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown then nearly 20 years later, she added two additional books to the series.  The final two just feel different from this original trio, and rather confusingly, All of a Kind Family Downtown actually takes place between the first two books.  As a huge fan of the series, I read them all multiple times, but there’s really no harm in sticking to the original three – the very best of the best.

The girls are older now, with Ella and Henny in high school and going to parties and seeing boys.  Any romance is very chaste and ideal for girls who think they want to read about people in love but aren’t ready for anything even remotely racy.  The stories in this book also rotate between the sisters, offering you little moments with each of the girls.  It continues in the same lines of gentle humor, religious tradition and solid family values.

Great for: This book is very strong on values.  The girls learn lessons about borrowing things that don’t belong to you, being honest, helping out in times of need and working hard.  It also shows that disappointment is a normal part of life.  It’s especially impressive because it doesn’t read as preachy at all.  The stories are often very humorous.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The older girls go to parties with boys and Ella is going out with Jules. Aunt Lena is going to have a baby.  Jules kisses Ella on the cheek.  Grace wants to meet a friend of Jules’s.  Jules writes Ella that she is cute. Jules puts his arm around Ella. Papa jokes about Ella’s dowry.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – The book is set during World War I; Jules enlists in the army. Mama is so sick she must be taken away in an ambulance, she needs her appendix out, which evidently was a much more serious operation back then.  The younger girls worry that she’ll die. Henny threatens to spank Charlie.  Charlie asks the soldiers were their guns are.  One soldier pretends to shoot Charlie and Charlie pretends to die. There’s a song with the line “Johnny get your gun.” Gas masks are mentioned. A soldier is missing in action another is wounded and sent to a hospital.  A few people die in a Bible story that is shared.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Wine is blessed during the Sabbath.  Schnapps and wine are served at a party.  Papa says he’ll have to give up smoking.
Frightening or Intense Things – Charlie plays with matches.