Camilla

This novel, one of the earliest works by the beloved author of "A Wrinkle in Time," 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.

Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007) L’Engle was born in New York City and attended Smith College. She wrote more than 60 books, the most famous of which is A Wrinkle in Time (1962), winner of the Newbery Award in 1963. L’Engle continued the story of the Murry family from A Wrinkle in Time with seven other novels (five of which are available as The Wrinkle in Time Quintet from Square Fish). She also wrote the famous series featuring the Austin family, beginning with the novel Meet the Austins (1960). L’Engle revisited the Austins four more times over the next three decades, concluding with Troubling a Star in 1994. The story of the Austins had some autobiographical elements, mirroring Madeleine’s life and the life of her family. Madeleine L’Engle’s latest book, The Joys of Love, is a romantic, coming-of-age story she wrote back in the 1940s, and was published by FSG in May 2008.

“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

“A thought-provoking story about a young girl’s first romance, her devastation over her own parents’ marital problems, and the growth of her own sense of self is back in print and should find a wide audience among old and new L’Engle fans. Perceptive and timely.”—Booklist
“Its themes and perceptions make it timeless. . . . Tender, understanding treatment of a difficult situation.”—Bestsellers
“There is a remarkable similarity between this book and J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Both are told in the first person, and both are concerned with the problems of a sensitive adolescent faced suddenly with the necessity of crossing the dividing line between childhood and maturity. Ms. L’Engle’s Camilla has more innate strength and stability than Salinger’s Holden Caulfield.”—Saturday Review
“This is an ambitious book that explores a range of techniques . . . and character.”—School Library Journal