Stupid Essay

"A horse and buggy came down the road and when I tried to get out of the way I fell--not onto pavement as I expected but onto cobbles." --from Playing Beatie Bow

An Australian children's favorite, Playing Beatie Bow is a fantasy combining Australian history, Victorian sensibilities, and the changes a lonely girl from a divided family can go through when something magical happens.

When Abigail Kirk, an odd misfit of a girl from Sydney, Australia, sews a scrap of lace into the collar of her handmade Victorian-style dress, she cannot guess what it will mean for her.

Abigail babysits a young girl, Samantha, who points out a ghostly-looking girl to Abigail when playing a game called "Beatie Bow." When Abigail chases the apparition and succeeds in touching her, she is transported back in time to Victorian-era Sydney, where she grows from a cynic...