Some of you might remember the "Maria" song from The Sound of Music. It is a lovely song describing a girl who is full of contradictions. Just see these particular lines from the lyrics:

"She is gentle! She is wild! She's a riddle! She's a child!
She's a headache! She's an angel! She's a girl!"

This is perfect not just for the orphan Maria but also for the lovely little orphan we meet in Anne of Green Gables.

Anne starts off as a typically atypical child. She's an orphan and has faced hardships like not many of her age have. And yet, she hasn't let go of her childhood innocence, exuberance and curiosity. Fate contrives to put her under the care of Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert (who are siblings, not spouses) in Green Gables. Marilla, who initially does not want a girl orphan for very practical reasons, slowly finds herself won over by the natural charm & idiosyncrasies of the talkative little redhead in her home.

The story finds Anne changing from a sloppy and dreamy girl to a responsible & caring young woman. Her precocious intelligence helps her to perform exceedingly well in school, but more than that, her vivid imagination helps her make the best of even those things that most of us wouldn't even look at twice such as trees and streams and roads!

The value of family, friends, teachers and even of love, care and a listening ear shines throughout the book. You actually see how Anne blossoms under the guidance and affection of Marilla and Matthew, in spite of their different parenting styles.

This is supposed to be a children's classic but I think it would be better for older children of Anne's age, who are able to comprehend that not everything Anne does is to be imitated. (Sorry, but that's the mom in me speaking! She does do some pretty silly things!) Of course, the book is also perfect for adult readers who are still childlike in their preferences! ( )

I think Anne's sense of romance has truly informed my own opinions (e.g., the daydream she describes to Diana in which Diana gets sick and Anne herself ends up dies of the illness after nursing Diana back to life). See my love of The Gargoyle. ( )

children's middlegrade fiction, standalone/1st book in series (12-16 y.o. orphan arrives on Prince Edward Island, Canada, changes everyone's lives for the better eventually finishing school with top marks and becoming a teacher), published in 1908.

re-reading this for a visit to PEI (Avonlea and Newbridge are fictional places but the Green Gables house is loosely based on the author's cousin's house in Cavendish--the "green" actually comes from trees, not paint, and busloads of tourists arrive every day to see it during the summer season). Anne is somewhat less charming to an adult reader-- she's got an incorrigible imagination and I'd have found her overly dramatic and pretentious if I'd actually known such a person in school, but apparently her classmates find her charismatic. She mellows a bit with age as she focuses mostly on school but conveniently doesn't become friends with Gilbert until after school is done. ( )

I listened to Rachel McAdams read my beautiful childhood favorite and fell in love with it All.Over.Again. I laughed and teared up and had so much fun in my memory of watching Meghan Follows and Colleen Dewhurst and Richard Farnsworth with my mom and my best friend.

I am so disappointed that Rachel did not narrate Anne of Avonlea that I am going to listen to another childhood favorite, The Secret Garden, next and then go back to my Meghan Follows narration for Avonlea!

This is fun!! ( )

Anne of Green Gables Written by L. M. Mongomery

This heartwarming story has beckoned generations of readers into the special world of Green Gables, an old-fashioned farm outside a town called Avonlea. Anne Shirley, an eleven-year-old orphan, has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—elderly Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl. But before they can send her back, Anne—who simply must have more scope for her imagination and a real home—wins them over completely. A much-loved classic that explores all the vulnerability, expectations, and dreams of a child growing up, Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family… and, most of all, love.

Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X