The Secret Language

Out-of-Print Book of the Week The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom A few weeks back, I wrote about The Secret Language, the only book the legendary kids' editor Ursula Nordstrom ever wrote herself, and as it happened, soon afterwards I found myself among the encyclopedic shelves of Powell's in Portland and was delighted to find a single copy there, from 1969. And the book turned out to be equally delightful, a modest and funny tale of the sweetness and complications of friendship made within the chilly exile of boarding school. As Victoria would say to Martha in their secret language, it's "leebossa," and I'm a little surprised NYRB Children's Classics hasn't brought it back into print. —Tom Out-of-Print Book of the Week Out-of-Print Book of the Week The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom A few weeks back, I wrote about The Secret Language, the only book the legendary kids' editor Ursula Nordstrom ever wrote herself, and as it happened, soon afterwards I found myself among the encyclopedic shelves of Powell's in Portland and was delighted to find a single copy there, from 1969. And the book turned out to be equally delightful, a modest and funny tale of the sweetness and complications of friendship made within the chilly exile of boarding school. As Victoria would say to Martha in their secret language, it's "leebossa," and I'm a little surprised NYRB Children's Classics hasn't brought it back into print. —Tom