Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers - 202 pages

I picked up this in anticipation of seeing the new movie Saving Mr. Banks based on Disney's making of the famous movie.  I had known for many years that the books were vastly different from the  movie but had not actually read them.  The first book is definitely different from the movie.  To be honest, I do not see why the children love Mary Poppins.  She is self-centered, egotistical, and unfriendly.  Another difference is that there are four children in the book -- Jane, Michael and twin babies.  Although is was pretty different, I did enjoy the book and plan to read more in the series.

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins & Fenway Park by Steve Kluger - 403 pages

Even though one of the characters is a die-hard Red Sox fan, I really liked this book.  It was fun and magical to read.  It's the story of three friends during their freshman year told through diary entries, instant messaging, emails and memos.  Over the course of that year, one of the friends comes out and gets his first boyfriend, one determines that she wants to be an actress, and one finds a new little brother in a deaf child he befriends at a baseball game.  And then there are the quests in the book -- to build a baseball field at Manzanar, to exonerate ballplayer Buck Weaver of cheating, and to introduce Hucky to his idol Mary Poppins.  A fun book for all teens.