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Scones and Sensibility

Lindsay Eland (Goodreads Author)

3.28 · Rating details · 845 ratings · 233 reviews

Seek tirelessly and you shall not find a contemporary heroine of middle-grade literature as refined and romantic as Miss Polly Madassa. Still swooning over the romantic conclusions of Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables, twelve-year-old Polly decides her purpose in life: helping along lonely hearts in search of love. Polly's only task this summer is to make deli ...more

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Hardcover, 320 pages

Published December 22nd 2009 by EgmontUSA (first published December 1st 2009)

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Apr 12, 2010 Jenn Estepp rated it it was ok

Shelves: kidlit, libraries-are-great

i'm such a sucker for a pretty book cover, and i still think that this one is a beauty. but it also raised expectations, already somewhat elevated by some advanced praise i read of the book. alas, it didn't quite live up to either. which is a darn shame, because i still think the idea is solid and that polly has the makings of a good character. but ...

the word "annoying" has been bandied about a lot on these other goodreads reviws and i'm going to agree with them. and it isn't just the trying-t ...more

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Jun 26, 2009 Yan rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Scones and Sensibility when first revealed is a charming book with an equally charming main character. The novelty soon dies in the middle of the book where I suggest that the reader set the book down for a few hours.

Polly Madassa is someone who believes in true love but her idea of finding love comes from a novel. This is where things go downhill. Love cannot be dictated by an outside source just as Polly finds out at the end of the book when every blind date she’s prepared turns out disastrou ...more

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Mar 22, 2010 Andrea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 10-in-10-teen-chick-lit-challenge, read-in-2010

Polly Madassa is quite the winsome character, and I adore her. She takes her favorite novels very seriously, allowing them to inspire the way she dresses, talks, and interacts with others. With books as her guide, she tends to get lost in whimsical fantasies and has a flair for the dramatic. But her heart is in the right place.

Though she sometimes slips up and talks like a modern girl, her narration is very much like reading novels by Jane Austen and Lucy Maud Montgomery. It was refreshing. And ...more

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Oct 01, 2016 Anna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommended to Anna by: browsing

Shelves: child-teen-heroes-ya, humoresque

After reading "Pride & Prejudice", 12-year-old Polly decides to emulate her new romantic role model Elizabeth Bennet who surpasses her previous one -- Anne Shirley of "Anne of Green Gables"-- by becoming a matchmaker during her summer vacation while making deliveries for her parents' bakery.

The title is a bit of a misnomer. The story had more in common with Green Gables than Austen. The first chapter was fine and I was expecting a kind of Flavia de Luce character. By the end of the second ch ...more

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Jan 03, 2010 JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, 4_stars, z_author_american, covers_i_like, fiction, just_plain_fun, middle_grade, z_read_in_2011, reviewed, z_setting_us

At the tender age of 12, Polly Madassa has discovered Jane Austen and fallen hopelessly in love. Convinced that she's an Austen heroine born in the wrong time, Polly walks around her modern town speaking in Austen's flowery prose. She's only read Pride and Prejudice, and so has not learned Emma's lesson about meddling. Polly goes about delivering baked goods from her family's bakery and trying to spread happiness and love among her neighbors by matchmaking. Of course, as we all know, the course ...more

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Jul 13, 2013 QNPoohBear rated it it was amazing

Shelves: austenesque, middle-grades, clean-romance, kisses-only

12 year-old Polly Madassa dreams of the days when Elizabeth Bennet walked the halls of Pemberley with Mr. Darcy and Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe (Anne of Green Gables) rambled down Lover's Lane. Polly lives and breathes her two favorite novels, even attempting to speak like a 19th century heroine. In the small seaside town where her parents own a bakery, Polly searches for real life Elizabeths, Darcys, Annes and Gilberts for her nearest and dearest. She also wants to regain the affections of ...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Stefanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, children-middle-grade

This book was utterly adorable. Polly was a great main character and I loved how the entire thing was written like we were actually there with Jane Austen, even though it takes place in the twenty first century. There were a couple times though I was a bit annoyed by the characters, which is why I gave it four and not five stars. Still an overall enjoyable read.

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Apr 25, 2011 Della rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ia lebih menyukai lilin daripada lampu, lebih suka suara mesin tik daripada komputer, dan sangat menyukai gaun berhias renda dan kerutan. Ia bicara dalam bahasa berbunga-bunga, senang bersepeda sambil menikmati wangi garam di udara (karena ia tinggal dekat laut), dan mengawali tiap pagi dengan harum roti dan gula karena kedua orang tuanya memiliki toko roti.

Namanya Polly Madassa, usia 12 tahun. Novel kesukaan: Anne of The Green Gables dan Pride and Prejudice. Berbekal kedua novel romantis itu da ...more

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Mar 10, 2010 Becky R. rated it liked it

I really wanted to like this book, with its cute premise of a young girl infatuated with all things Jane Austen, the pastry shop, and multiple courtships, but I just didn't. While it might be because the 12 year old character Polly grated on my nerves with her endless talking as if she somehow was a Romantic period character, I simply couldn't shake my annoyance over her behavior. Yes, Polly was cute, the way a 12-year old is supposed to be cute, but I didn't really believe her either. I couldn' ...more

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Aug 15, 2009 Kimberly Derting rated it it was amazing

Polly Madasa is darn near one of the cutest protagonists I've read. I fell hard for her quirky ways! A lover of all things quaint and romantic, Polly is like a fish-out-water in the rough-and-tumble 21st Century. She prefers candlelight to electric lamps, carriages to cars, and good old fashioned courting to today's internet dating. When she decides to take her town's romantic interests into her own hands, silly matchmaking (and hilarity) ensues!

Funny, sweet, and charming, Scones & Sensibil ...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Carmela Coyle rated it it was amazing

Lucy Maud Montgomery and Jane Austen book fans will enjoy this modern day middle grade story. I did!! It's breezy and fun. Wittingly, twelve old Polly Madassa "channels" revered literary idols, Anne Shirley and Elizabeth Bennett, as she goes about her business (and that of many others) in a dreamy coastal town. Her self-proclaimed sole purpose is to devise ways to assist townsfolk in finding true love. She speaks with the lilt of bygone days and thus the story unfolds with triumphs and troubles.

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Oct 01, 2013 Madeline J. Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: stand-alone, contemporary, cover-love, reviewed-books, mg

Initial Response
Oh, Polly...Have you no SENSE?

Seek tirelessly and you shall not find a contemporary heroine of middle-grade literature as refined and romantic as Miss Polly Madassa. Still swooning over the romantic conclusions of Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables, twelve-year-old Polly decides her purpose in life: helping along lonely hearts in search of love. Polly's only task this summer is to make deliveries for her parents' bakery, leaving ample time for this young cupid to fi ...more

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Nov 21, 2009 Brandy Painter rated it liked it

Shelves: childrens, contemporary-fiction

Review originally posted here.

Polly is a very quirky 12 year old. She is a precocious young reader who read Anne of Green Gables in fourth grade and at 12 has just read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. She has requested that her computer be replaced with an old fashioned typewriter, learned calligraphy, embroiders and wears frilly dresses. She also talks like Anne at her most flowery and melodramatic. The book is a first person narrative from Polly's POV so the entire thing is written in Review originally posted here.

Polly is a very quirky 12 year old. She is a precocious young reader who read Anne of Green Gables in fourth grade and at 12 has just read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. She has requested that her computer be replaced with an old fashioned typewriter, learned calligraphy, embroiders and wears frilly dresses. She also talks like Anne at her most flowery and melodramatic. The book is a first person narrative from Polly's POV so the entire thing is written in this style. Which was cute at first but became annoying after a while. Polly did slip up every now and then, resuming 21st American tween speech, but the slip ups didn't occur nearly as often as would be realistic.

There were some amusing parts in the story one of my favorites being this exchange between Polly and a boy who has a crush on her:
Boy: "I know. Mind if I call you sometime? Maybe tonight, and we can talk about...about the olden times or something. My dad used to have an Afro when he was in college, you know. And my grandpa, he's even older than that."
Polly: "I...I am afraid I cannot commit to any telephone calls about your family genealogy at this time. Pleas enjoy yourself, and perhaps I may see you when school, once again, commences in the fall. Good day.

I was interested in reading the book originally because I saw a lot of reviews saying the story worked Jane Austen into it well and that its language was reminiscent of Austen's language. Except it's not. Jane Austen wrote in the language of her period and genre but her heroines never sounded as though they were vomiting up a Hallmark store on every page. The language is more like Anne waxing lyrical, but instead of it just popping up every now and then the entire book is written that way. As far as working in elements of Austen, that is definitely there. The book mentions both P&P and Persuasion. The title is a riff on Sense and Sensibility. Polly is playing matchmaker like Emma. However, her character most resembles Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey. She is applying the romantic notions she has picked up in books on the world around her and trying to force real people into the roles of characters. She makes an absolute cake of herself and hurts some people in the process. As Northanger Abbey is a satire making fun of romantic melodrama and its effects I was left wondering what the author was trying to do with this. But that could be me, who wrote way to many English papers on Austen, overthinking the whole thing. Probably.

Overall it is a cute and fluffy story if you can stomach the language. It is best suited for its intended audience, 8-12 year old girls (particularly those who have shown a partiality to the types of stories mentioned). ...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Mia Prasetya rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cerita-cinta, hadiah

Polly Madasa, gadis kecil berusia 12 tahun mungkin bisa kita anugrahkan predikat gadis paling romantis yang ada di muka bumi. Bagaimana tidak, buku favoritnya Pride and Predudice and Anne of Green Gables yang dibaca berulang kali. Ia lebih menyukai menulis dengan lilin dibanding mengetik di internet. Bahasa sehari-hari Pollypun sama persis dengan kalimat jadul ala Anne ditambah Polly juga pengkhayal kelas berat, sering kali orang tua dan teman-temannya dibuat bingung oleh tingkah laku Polly yang Polly Madasa, gadis kecil berusia 12 tahun mungkin bisa kita anugrahkan predikat gadis paling romantis yang ada di muka bumi. Bagaimana tidak, buku favoritnya Pride and Predudice and Anne of Green Gables yang dibaca berulang kali. Ia lebih menyukai menulis dengan lilin dibanding mengetik di internet. Bahasa sehari-hari Pollypun sama persis dengan kalimat jadul ala Anne ditambah Polly juga pengkhayal kelas berat, sering kali orang tua dan teman-temannya dibuat bingung oleh tingkah laku Polly yang seakan terjerat masa lalu.

"Pesta minum teh dengan hidangan roti isi mentimun adalah kegiatan favoritku sejak usia lima tahun. Sebagian besar pakaianku sejak mulai menghirup napas pertama di dunia ini berhias renda dan kerutan (kecuali kamping sial ketika aku dipaksa memakai celana jins yang dipotong pendek dan tank top bertuliskan whassup?" Kalimat di paragraf awal :p Sudah kelihatan kan lebaynya, hehehe.

Di halaman selanjutnya ".. Saat aku berbaring di kamarku merenungkan semua hal ini, sekonyong-konyong aku dibanjiri kecemerlangan dan keagungan musim panas. Udara pekat dan manis bagai kembang bokor yang baru mekar, serta aroma air garam yang menyeruak dalam embusan angin, bagaikan baju yang dijepit apik pada tali jemuran, terasa memabukkan." Wih, luar biasa berbunga bahasanya dan salut untuk mbak Uci yang bisa menerjemahkan kalimat Polly dengan pas!

Niat mulai Polly selama musim panas ingin menjodohkan orang-orang terdekatnya. Clementine, kakak tersayang yang menurut Polly pacarnya tidak sesuai dengan Clementine, tidak bertindak layaknya seorang laki-laki terhormat. Ada juga Mr. Nightquist yang kesepian setelah kematian istrinya. Miss Wiskerton, perawan tua kesepian yang hanya tinggal dengan anjingnya juga tak luput dari Polly. Terakhir, ayah sobat karib Polly, Mr. Fisk telah 3 tahun menduda dan tentunya Polly tak tinggal diam.

Berdasar dari kisah cinta ala Pride and Prejudice ataupun kisah cinta Anne - Gilbert di buku Anne of Green Gables, Polly mulai melancarkan aksinya menjodohkan pasangan yang menurutnya pasti menjadi pasangan serasi. Sayangnya Polly lupa, cinta tak dapat dipaksa dan benarkah cinta berbunga ala novel klasik beneran dapat terwujud di dunia jaman sekarang? Nah, Polly harus belajar dari tante Mia kalau gitu :p

Buku yang saya peroleh hasil menang kuis di facebook ini memiliki inti cerita yang menarik ditambah lagi covernya yang manis banget. Sayangnya kemanisan cerita sedikit terganggu dengan tingkah laku Polly yang terkadang sedikit di luar jalur plus kesan yang saya dapat 'duh ni anak sok tua banget sih?' Bagi pecinta romance remaja dan pengagum cover seperti saya, buku ini layak kok untuk dikoleksi :) ...more

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Jul 08, 2009 Steph Su rated it liked it

Shelves: debs09

SCONES AND SENSIBILITY, Lindsay Eland’s debut novel, introduces to us a quirky yet endearing heroine who will probably remind us all too well of ourselves, especially if you are, too, a fan of Anne Shirley and Elizabeth Bronte. Its romantic affectations may make it appeal more to older readers instead of its intended middle-grade audience, but readers of all age will be able to laugh at Polly’s misconceptions and mistakes, and smile as she grows up and discovers the difference between fiction an SCONES AND SENSIBILITY, Lindsay Eland’s debut novel, introduces to us a quirky yet endearing heroine who will probably remind us all too well of ourselves, especially if you are, too, a fan of Anne Shirley and Elizabeth Bronte. Its romantic affectations may make it appeal more to older readers instead of its intended middle-grade audience, but readers of all age will be able to laugh at Polly’s misconceptions and mistakes, and smile as she grows up and discovers the difference between fiction and reality.

Polly’s voice and narration—so influenced by what she feels is a more romantic way of talking—is the make-it-or-break-it element of this book. I can certainly recall many moments when I wish my life were like Anne Shirley’s, or if I lived in Anne’s world, where mishaps lead to endearments, and every girl found a horribly romantic and swoon-worthy Gilbert Blythe-esque figure. On the other hand, I also never actually allowed myself to talk in the way Polly does, because I probably would’ve been laughed out of the state. Polly’s overuse of “indeeds,” “trulys,” and other words may get on readers’ nerves, even those who liked Montgomery and Austen’s writing.

In a way, Polly exists in her own little world that’s difficult to place in a contemporary setting. She’s a 12-year-old growing up in 21st-century America, but her speech and her social concerns aren’t anything like what I remember thinking about when I was 12. Polly’s romantic imagination makes her sound younger than her age, and yet the language of the book may be slightly more sophisticated than the age of readers who’d perhaps find Polly the most entertaining.

SCONES AND SENSIBILITY, then, is most fun in a retrospective sort of way. Readers who will be able to best enjoy Polly’s adventures will be the ones who can still remember the magic that Green Gables and Regency England held for them, but are old enough to have some distance from their childhood infatuations. It’s a challenging book to market as a result, but if mothers buy this book for their daughters, they’ll surely be able to enjoy it themselves as well. ...more

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Jul 09, 2009 Miss Clark rated it liked it

Shelves: children-s, modern-presentday

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A fun, charming book full of romanticism and sentiment, though at times it was almost too much so for me.

12 year-old Polly, daughter of the owners of a bakery in a seaside town, is utterly and inescapably enchanted by the works of L. M. Montgomery and Jane Austen, those immortal scribes of a lost era of gentility, civility, elegance and ... romance. Polly does her best to conform to the ideals of those more enlightened times, adopting in particular an Anne Shirley-like mode of expressing herself ...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Nana rated it it was amazing

The Original Review - Here!

The narrator of the story, Polly, is a charming girl who enjoys classic stuff. In the summer the story’s narrated, Polly finds herself at a new job; making deliveries for her parent’s bakery while remembering her matchmaking gift at a singular situation she decides to find an “true love” to her Dearest Fran father. This is where the adventure starts since Polly already feels confident about her gift that she decides to take her town’s romantic interests into her own ...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Rachel rated it liked it

Eland's protagonist, a middle schooler newly obsessed with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice after a childhood of Anne of Green Gables, is written with quirky charm as she takes up calligraphy, wears dresses and bonnets, and otherwise does her best to live up to the example of her literary heroes. She has even schooled herself to speak (and think!) in an approximation of the proper English of centuries ago. It is the perfect hook.

Unfortunately, the protagonist is blind to the real-world needs of ...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Mummy Cat Claire rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish, read-in-2011, ya-novels

I was disappointed in this book. I thought it would have more humor and more cute twelve year old romance but really it was about a whiny little girl who wanted to set people up when she really didn't have a clue how to do it. Instead of Sensibility she was playing a little bit Emma but way more annoying.
The main character, Polly, loves JA and throughout the entire novel talks like they did in JA books. At first I thought it was endearing but it really it was annoying. However, I found it fabul ...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Erica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-obsession

A romantic book for tweenage readers who love Anne of Green Gables and Mr. Darcy?! That was all I needed to hear before delving into this charming tale of twelve-year-old Polly Madassa, who decides to play matchmaker (ála Austen’s Emma) in her small beach town, often with disastrous and comical results. The language is hilariously overwrought and the chapter titles adorable, as in “In Which My Family Is Introduced and My Bosom Friend Gives Me Distressing News.” I happily embraced my “30 going on ...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Lisa rated it liked it

Shelves: kidsfiction, squeaky-clean-fiction

Cute and sugary story of a young girl, Polly, who is equal parts Emma Woodhouse (Austen's "Emma") and Anne Shirley (Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables").

Polly is a matchmaker wannabe in the modern world, desperately trying to keep her bosom friend Fran from hating her when her matchmaking skillz go rabidly wrong for her father. Polly's also doomed at trying to find Mr. Right for her sister. Will she get it right? Or wallow in the pits of despair at being the ultimate busybody and failure?

Mix th ...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Liz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star, jane-in-june-and-austen-in-august, juvenile-fiction-and-middle-grade, own

This was such a fun, light-hearted read! I really enjoyed the way it was written, like it was meant to sound like a Jane Austen novel or Anne of Green Gables. I know some people thought Polly's matchmaking and continually making the same mistakes was annoying. Personally, I've always been very intent on finding love and definitely remember having crushes in fifth grade, so I found her behavior to be relatable and understandable. I think middle grade readers will relate to what Polly goes through ...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Diana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: chick-lit, young-adult, middle-grade, awesome, love-that-cover

How adorable is this book? I mean really, it's so cute and I fell in love with it immediately. Polly is 12 and has just read Pride and Prejudice and it has changed her life. She is transformed into a well bred elegant lady who must become a matchmaker for all the love starved people in her little town. Unfortunately, Polly's matchmaking turns disastrous and she has to learn the hard way that books are very different than real life. I loved the cover, the title, and all of the characters. I laugh ...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Stefanie Kellum rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-kids

So stinkin' cute! Polly's like a little mini Emma Woodhouse who tries to help her friends and neighbors find love with disastrous results.

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Mar 12, 2014 Shannon rated it did not like it

Did not finish.main character was too pretentious.

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Oct 18, 2018 Meg rated it it was ok

Shelves: jane-austen, for-students

I enjoy cheesy, badly written book based on Jane Austen. Once in awhile, I find a gem, but it is rare...and it never fails that the book is....just awful. I don't mind the bad--- I find it amusing and I like seeing how authors are inspired by Ms. Austen herself.
This book has been on my list forever--- and I assumed (oops) that it would be a modernized version of Sense and Sensibility...nope. Sadly-- it was a book inspired by Austen and Montgomery....not so sure why she chose this title except i ...more

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Dec 27, 2017 Rofi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Agak membosankan menurutku. Sudah berharap banyak karena terinspirasi novel Pride & Prejudice tapi ternyata hanya menemukan kekonyolan Polly dalam misi menjadi mak comblang orang-orang disekitarnya. Yaah, ada beberapa yang asyik sih, saat Polly dan Miss Wiskerton saling membicarakan novel-novel Jane Austen. Selebihnya biasa saja.

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Sep 09, 2018 Tina Wilson rated it liked it

This month's mother-daughter book club choice. As one friend put it, "the strangled prose" (this was purposeful) made for a challenging read aloud at times. For an adult it feels over the top but to a girl who likes the dramatic and romantic it probably is quite enjoyable.

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Jul 13, 2017 Natasya Mesensy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

Did not finish it. Half of is cute and fluffy, the rest seems boring and annoying.

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Sep 04, 2018 Angie Shoemaker rated it liked it

I think I would’ve liked this book as a pre-teen. It was a little painful to get through as a mom, though.

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About Lindsay Eland

Lindsay Eland

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Lindsay Eland knew she wanted to be a writer ever since fifth grade, when she won an honorable mention for her book “What Can You Learn From a Giflyaroo.” The book received rave reviews and was highly acclaimed among her family members. Sadly, with only ten hard-bound copies produced, the book is now out of print. In high school and early college, Lindsay traveled to India and had the privilege o ...more