We have finished reading The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy, and we loved it! The students have really enjoyed identifying some of the earliest elements of the superhero archetype - we have had a lot of heated debate, but generally we think that the Scarlet Pimpernel is most similar to Batman. He is wealthy, hides his identity, fights for justice, and doesn't have any actual supernatural powers. A good case was made for Superman, though, since his mild-mannered alter-ego fools everyone, even his wife! It fooled a lot of the students for a while, too, but quite a few of them guessed correctly before the big reveal chapter.
Hardly anyone guessed the second big plot twist of the book, though. I love reading a book that keeps everyone on their toes!
When we finished the book we celebrated with a French feast and movie morning for the entire upper school. We watched the 1982 version of The Scarlet Pimpernel and I prepared some French cuisine. This was a nice cap to the story, which is set in the French Revolution, as well as their history studies of the French Revolution.
The students were almost all very brave about trying the new food. I served boef Bourguignonne (beef stew), cuisses a la Provencal (frog legs), escargots Bourguignonne (snails!), pommes Provencal (new potatoes), tarts and baked Brie. I was really grateful for all of our awesome parents who brought additional baguettes, cheeses, and crepes! This was a great experience for the students, many of whom had never tasted this type of food before.
