Meet the Austins: Book One of The Austin Family Chronicles (Austin Family, 1)

Madeleine L'Engle is one of my favorite authors, and "A Wrinkle in Time" has been one of my most loved books since I was a child, also in the 60's. I read "Meet the Austins" later, many times, and really liked the family, except for Suzy. Never could stand her, especially as the books went on. She supposedly had it all, brains, looks, personality, while Vicky felt plain and boring, yet she took every opportunity to shoot Vicky down.

I hadn't thought much about their family dynamics other than they were pretty close to being a "perfect" family, which was nice to read about, especially if one didn't happen to have the same at home. One thing that really stood out for me though, was that the Austins were supposed to be the embodiment of a loving, secure family with good Christian values. Yet, when sad, unhappy Maggy comes to live with them, every one of the kids loathed her and wanted her out of their lives. It didn't seem like they ever really tried to put themselves in Maggy's place, even for a minute, and think what her life was like. The parents made only one halfhearted attempt to point out that Maggy had never known one moment of what they took for granted, never known love, security, or a real family. No one even gave a thought, as they were feeling so bad for Elena, that Maggy had lost both her parents within a month. Where did the "good Christian values" go as soon as they had one test of those values? I don't think being a good Christian just means loving the people that are easy to get along with and who love you. I wondered also why Elena wanted Maggy to live with her, after she had been several years at the Austins', and had only known Maggy and her father one month before his death.

The other thing I never understood about the Austin series is that as soon as Maggy went to live with Elena,at the beginning of "The Moon By Night," after living with the Austins for years, she was never mentioned again, except for the LA visit. A part of the family is suddenly not there anymore and it's "out of sight, out of mind?' It was the same with Emily in "the Young Unicorns." That just seemed so odd to me.

"Meet the Austins" was a great read when I was a kid, and I appreciate it even more today because, despite the fact that decades have passed, the characters in the book are so human and true to life even today. This is a rare quality in family stories and met in my experience only by a few classics such as "Little Women". I also like the way L'Engle presents an obviously very intelligent and somewhat unusual family as normal folks who are not comically eccentric - there are no crazy inventor fathers building a flying machine in the back yard, or any of that. The family also has a strong sense of spirituality without being overtly preachy or religious, at least in my opinion. (Be warned, however, that the characters do discuss God and how he fits in with science in ways that non-believers may find a bit heavy-handed.)

The main character, Vicky Austin, didn't grab me as much as Meg Murry from L'Engle's "Wrinkle" did at the time, simply because Vicky was way more ordinary. Vicky doesn't go jetting off to a far planet to save her father; instead her adventures are far more conventional, such as a nighttime bike ride that ends unfortunately in a bad accident. Vicky's activities and thoughts generally have to do with more traditional female concerns such as the feelings of her various family members, world peace, and so on, and it's her older brother John who is busy building a space suit in the backyard with the help of his uncle - a project I was quite jealous of myself at the time! Thankfully, all is not lost in terms of female liberation, since Vicky has a younger sister Suzy who is very independent and non-traditional, in that she is bound and determined to become a doctor when she grows up come hell or high water. Suzy's goal might not seem unusual today, but when this book was written, and even for a few decades afterwards, little girls didn't just grow up and become doctors. You get the feeling Suzy is not going to let anything stand in her way, though.

This book is usually presented as being about the Austins taking in their orphaned cousin Maggy, who doesn't really fit in well and threatens to disturb the family unit. However, only a small portion of this book is about Maggy, and a lot of other things happen to the family. There are quite a few cliffhangers, dealing with everything from a broken radiator that floods the house to Vicky's bike accident to the family coming down with the measles. In between, this family has a lot of very intelligent discussions about God, the universe, science and, well, everything. I really wished I had parents or grandparents who would take the time to engage in the deep discussions that the Austins get into with their brood. Best of all, despite the occasional mentions of God and values, and the obvious high intelligence of the whole family, the kids are presented as human, not a bunch of plaster saints. They occasionally misbehave, bicker, have to be reprimanded, and feel like their life is grossly unfair, just like all kids did back then and still do today. Truly a timeless book.

Vicky Austin, the delightful narrator of the story, is twelve. She's both much younger as compared to the worldliness of today's tweens, and much older as compared to responsibility level. I loved the classic old-fashioned big-family fun tales of the whole Austin clan, which included such things as a fun trip to Grandpa's barn-house on the beach, a secret "Anti-Muffin club"- and my favorite -a whole-family scheme to scare off Uncle Douglas' girlfriend.

First published in 1960, parts of it seem extremely dated such as this bit of a parental rant: "If they've gone out in all this rain, I'll beat them to a pulp and spread them on my toast like strawberry jam" (p. 52). Children of today might see that as some sort of weird child-abuse threat, but for me, growing up in the 70's with such threats as "I'm going to put you in a world of hurt," I know it's all in good fun.

Other parts also seem like something that kids today wouldn't understand, such as a girl whose mother travels all over Europe leaving her in the care of nannies and the nurturing yet firm mother and the authoritarian father that she comes to live with after her parents' death.

This book was delightful -- comfort reading. I am halfway through the second one in the series, and I can't wait to read the whole series.

But how would it go over with a well-read ten-year-old girl of today? Well, my daughter Amanda loved it. She told me she really liked it, and she even described it as "timeless." So, go figure.

No matter your age, if you are a L'Engle fan, I recommend this book. The back of the Square Fish paperback reprint has a chart listing all the characters of the Meet the Austins series and Wrinkle in Time series and how they intersect -- yes, some of the characters are in both series!

I ordered this book because this edition contains the "missing chapter", the Anti-Muffins, that was taken out of the original publication. This is a great novel by my favorite author!

There are two fundamental responses to change. The first, and perhaps the easiest, is to be annoyed. After all, changes (big or small) disrupt our daily routine. And when our circumstances change, we have to change as well. The second option is to accept change with grace. When I think about the greatest changes in my life, I cannot imagine myself without them. Where would I be if I had never created this blog?

Meet the Austins, by Madeleine L’Engle, tells the story of the Austin family. A large, happy, noisy bunch, they were perfectly content with their way of life. But when their honorary uncle Hal and his copilot friend die in a plane crash, the family’s life changes drastically. The daughter of Uncle Hal’s friend, Maggy, comes to stay with the Austins. Maggy is loud, spoiled, and generally unpleasant. Soon the whole household is in uproar. Will life ever get back to normal?

Rob Austin is one of my favorite characters in Meet the Austins. The youngest of the family, Rob never fails to make me laugh. Rob is constantly saying hilarious things without noticing, and he is often confused when people around him erupt into laughter when he is perfectly serious. But the funniest things to read are his prayers. One night, he even asks God to bless Santa Claus! In fact, Rob’s very presence adds something a bit lighthearted, especially when things get somber. And even though his life is changing in ways he doesn’t always understand, Rob manages to stay cheerful and optimistic.

Vicky Austin is the main character in this book. After Maggy comes to stay and Uncle Hal dies, Vicky begins to reflect deeply. After thinking about life and death, she complains to her mother that she doesn’t understand it. Her mother wisely replies that all we really know about life is that it is a beautiful gift. And while Vicky’s world changes around her, she wishes desperately for time to stop, to slow down, to let her breathe. But after everyone settles down, she realizes that without the great changes in her life, she wouldn’t be who she is.

Meet the Austins is a funny, thoughtful story. In it, Vicky realizes that her actions make a difference and can change the lives of others drastically. Most of all, it tells the story of how change can go from being a nuisance to a blessing. If you would like to read more youth-written book reviews, go to my blog, bookshelfexplorer.

A childhood classic still wonderful today. So pleased to be able to share a favorite series with my niece, age 12.

My granddaughter likes Madelene L'Engle (as do I) and we are sorry that she is no longer with us.

At first when I started reading this book I thought it was a boring story about a seemingly perfect family and their less than extraordinary life. Then I remembered that not every book needs to be full of strife and conflict and sadness and action-packed despair. Some books can be about life, the SIMPLE parts of life that often get neglected in storytelling. Which is exactly what this book is.

The story is about the Austin family, two parents who love each other, four siblings who love each other but don't always like each other, and the girl they take into their home after her father has died. Over time, the bratty spoiled house guest becomes a loved member of the family, and all the kids are changed for it.

It's definitely a story about growing up. As the book goes on, Vic notices how her older brother John is changing; his voice is deeper, he's more rational, more responsible. While she tries to fight against them both getting older, she also starts to see how necessary it is.

I think this is the kind of book I want to someday read to my kids. It's full of lessons about how to be uniquely you, to stand up for what you believe is right, to embrace your faults and your gifts, and mostly to love. ALL this without ever once being preachy. I've loved L'Engle since I readA Wrinkle In Time, but this series is so different and yet has that same simplistic element that makes me feel home.

Here's the funny thing about Meet the Austins. When I read it in elementary school, I found the pace slow and so almost never discovered Madeleine L'Engle. I reread Meet the Austins only after I fell for Madeleine L'Engle's other books. Yet now upon rereading the Austin books, Meet the Austins is by far my favorite because of its rich thematic depth. The rest of the world almost never discovered Meet the Austins either, given that it was rejected by publishers for two years. Why? Because Madeleine L'Engle dared to write about the then-taboo subject of death. In first chapter, called "The Telephone Call," the Austins receive a call from their close friend Elena that changes their lives. Her husband Hal had an accident with his plane. Both he and his co-pilot were killed instantly. The co-pilot had a little girl, who doesn't have a mother. Guess who ultimately takes her in? As such, Meet the Austins is partly about grief. If you think that makes for a depressing book, take comfort: It's more about understanding life itself. Vicky's brother John most aptly puts it this way: "I don't understand about anything. I don't understand about people dying, and I don't understand about families, about people being as close as we are, and then everyone growing up...." Meet the Austins is about even more, in that it's also about family. Maggy rarely saw either of her parents, but was regularly left with nurses and governesses. In contrast, the Austins are a close-knit nuclear family with loving parents who take their time to talk with their children about the confusing events unfolding around them, but at the same time make clear that certain actions such as playing in their father's office are wrong and therefore have consequences. Over the years, I've also grown to appreciate how subtly Madeleine L'Engle slipped in positive references to God; something that still remains unusual for a book not published in the religious market. There are so many other compliments I could bestow on Meet the Austins. Read it!

I read this book many years ago and now bought it for a rela