This is one of those books you want to curl up with on a wintery day, by the fire, with hot chocolate in hand (of course since I live in Hawaii none of those things actually happened) to read the day away with. This heartwarming novel, in typical Louisa May Alcott style, has a moral to go along with each chapter as we watch Rose navigate her way around her new home and life. Among other lessons we learn that tobacco is bad, exercise is good, friends are important, and that giving time and money to charity is nice. Though this book is indicative of the times (just wait until you read the description of the men from China...), Louisa May Alcott does advocate women being in charge of their own finances, which was quite the feminist stance to take during the mid 1800s. Except for being a little too 'innocent' for my taste, Eight Cousins will hit the spot when you need to take a breather from the circus show that our modern lives have become.