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Jane Langton (1) (1922–2018)

Author of The Fledgling

For other authors named Jane Langton, see the disambiguation page.

33+ Works 7,860 Members 134 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Jane Langton was born Jane Gillson in Belmont, Massachusetts on December 30, 1922. She received a bachelor's degree in art history in 1944 and a master's degree in art history in 1945 from the University of Michigan. She received a second master's degree in art history from Radcliffe College in show more 1948. She studied at the Boston Museum School from 1958 to 1959. Her writing career began with children's books. Her first book, The Majesty of Grace, was published in 1961. She illustrated several of her children's books. She wrote a young adult series entitled the Hall Family Chronicles. The fourth book in the series, The Fledgling, was a Newbery Honor book. She also wrote an adult mystery series entitled the Homer Kelly mysteries. The fifth book in the series, Emily Dickinson Is Dead, received a Nero Wolfe Award and an Edgar Award. In 2017, she received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award for the series. She died from complications of a respiratory condition on December 22, 2018 at the age of 95. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photo by Janet Boynton

Series

Works by Jane Langton

The Fledgling (1980) 2,240 copies
The Time Bike (2000) 1,153 copies
The Diamond in the Window (1962) 506 copies
The Transcendental Murder (1964) 276 copies
Emily Dickinson Is Dead (1984) 276 copies
Murder at the Gardner (1988) 221 copies
The Memorial Hall Murder (1978) 220 copies
The Dante Game (1991) 210 copies
Dark Nantucket Noon (1975) 199 copies
God in Concord (1992) 185 copies
Dead As a Dodo (1996) 176 copies
Divine Inspiration (1993) 164 copies
The Face on the Wall (1998) 163 copies
The Swing in the Summerhouse (1967) 160 copies
The Escher Twist (2002) 159 copies
Good and Dead (1986) 156 copies
The Thief of Venice (1999) 139 copies
Natural Enemy (1982) 137 copies
The Astonishing Stereoscope (1971) 133 copies
Murder at Monticello (2001) 132 copies
The Fragile Flag (1984) 94 copies
Saint Francis and the Wolf (2007) 94 copies
Steeplechase (2005) 87 copies
Salt: A Russian Folktale (1992) 57 copies
Her Majesty, Grace Jones (1961) 56 copies
The Mysterious Circus (2005) 48 copies
The Boyhood of Grace Jones (1972) 38 copies
Paper Chains (1977) 19 copies

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Reviews

When Eddy Hall receives five cards for his stereoscope, he and his sister, Eleanor, can't wait to see what exotic places they reveal - maybe Stonehenge, or a centuries-old European cathedral. But instead, when they look through the stereoscope, Eddy and Eleanor see some very strange things. An odd-looking rope hangs from the sky down into every picture. A marmalade colored cat that looks suspiciously like Herm, the family cat, also appears. And one picture looks like the front hall of their very own house! The images seem to be almost real, not just three-dimensional illusions. All it will take is one little tug on that rope to find out for sure...… (more)
 
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PlumfieldCH | 2 other reviews | Dec 13, 2023 |
The new bike isn't pretty...

Not like the slick, red, twenty-one-speed bike that was stolen the very night Eddy had received it as a birthday present. The bike that Prince Krishna sent is old-fashioned and has a wicker basket -- the kind of bike no self-respecting boy like Eddy would be caught dead riding. Soon, though, Eddy doesn't care how the bike looks, because it has the ability to travel in ways he never thought possible -- in the fourth dimension. Eddy can't wait to take the ride of his life, visit important dates in history, and find a way to bypass exam week. But trips through time can have unpredictable results, and they're not always without danger...… (more)
 
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PlumfieldCH | 10 other reviews | Dec 12, 2023 |
When Georgie Hall decides to walk from Concord, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., with a letter to the President and an old flag capable of producing magical visions, no one doubts that she has the will or ability to do it. Along with her stepcousins Eleanor and Eddy, Georgie begins the Children's Crusade to stop the President from building a globally fatal nuclear bomb, known as the Peace Missile. But 450 miles is a long way to walk, and even as the Crusade picks up members along the way, its marchers can't help but wonder if their actions will make a difference, or if it is already too late....… (more)
 
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PlumfieldCH | 3 other reviews | Dec 12, 2023 |
If there's one thing Georgie Hall has always been, it's determined.

So when her step cousins Eleanor and Eddy tell her that she can't fly, Georgie doesn't get discouraged -- she just tries harder. She feels a peculiar lightness when she leaps from the top of the staircase, and is even more certain of her seemingly impossible ability when she jumps from the porch and soars to the rooftop before landing safely on the ground. And now that a mysterious Canada goose is visiting Georgie's window on a nightly basis, the Hall family begins to wonder just what Georgie is capable of....… (more)
 
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PlumfieldCH | 15 other reviews | Sep 22, 2023 |

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Works
33
Also by
4
Members
7,860
Popularity
#3,094
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
134
ISBNs
202
Languages
4
Favorited
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