Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter

       

       The story of an orphaned girl who comes to live with her stern Aunt Polly, Pollyanna is a tale of old-fashioned charm and sweetness. 

        Plot Summary: When unwanted eleven-year-old orphan Pollyanna Whittier comes to live with her aunt, Miss Polly Harrington, neither knows quite what to make of the other. Miss Polly is stiff and stern, and likes to keep things in order. Pollyanna is a spunky, high-spirited girl with a cheerful perspective and a complete disregard for order. But Pollyanna has one thing in her favor; thanks to her minister father's teaching, she has learned how to find the good in every situation. She's determined that other people be just as cheerful as she is, and with this in mind, optimistic Pollyanna begins to transform the people around her.

        Discussions: This is a positive, sweet story of one girl's determination to be cheerful no matter what happens. Her father taught her to "play the Glad Game" when she was very young and her family was living on a minister's small salary. The point of the game is to find the silver lining in every situation. Pollyanna tells everyone she meets about this game, influencing the tired and warmhearted housemaid Nancy, the fretful invalid neighbor Mrs. Snow, and mysterious Mr. John Pendleton to try to be "glad." 

      Miss Polly Harrington is frankly puzzled by Pollyanna. Stern and strict, she likes things to be in order, but her niece has a great disregard for it. Pollyanna's habit of banging doors, for example, is greatly irritable to her. When Miss Polly tries to punish Pollyanna for her heedless ways, Pollyanna cheerfully assumes that her aunt mean it for the best. For example, when Pollyanna leaves her screen-less windows open, thereby letting in flies, Aunt Polly gives her a pamphlet to read on the dangers of flies carrying in germs. Pollyanna immediately is fascinated by the pamphlet because she loves to read. When Miss Polly punishes her for not coming to supper on time by making her eat bread and milk in the kitchen, Pollyanna is content because she likes bread and milk. Pollyanna is utterly unlike her aunt, and Miss Polly doesn't know quite what to do with her. She only knows that she must do her duty. But it's impossible to be cold to the impulsive Pollyanna for long.

      This old-fashioned book tells the story of a girl who although loved at first by only a few, transforms those around her, rather like Anne of Green Gables and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. But even those undeniably charming heroines don't play the "Glad Game" of finding all the ways to be happy they can.

     Overall: I highly recommend this book!