Based on my stack, I appear to have been in a particularly youthful mood recently—either that, or my mental capacities have been so sapped that children's literature is all I can handle!
I reread L.M. Montgomery's Emily of New Moon, and was so curious to see what happened next that I rushed out and bought a copy of the sequel, Emily Climbs. Emily is a much different heroine than Anne (of Green Gables) in many ways, although they're very similar in many others. I can hear different portions of Montgomery's own childhood coming out in Emily's story, and I found the books (and Emily) inspiring. She is absolutely devoted to her dreams, and nothing gets in her way. Instead, she bends the obstacles she encounters to fit her needs.
Further rereading included Carol Ryrie Brink's Caddie Woodlawn, about her grandmother's experiences growing up in mid-nineteenth-century Wisconsin. And Plain Girl, about the experiences of a young Amish girl in the 1950s (fiction, or at least fictionalized) and her first exposure to the outside world. Both are solidly written, interesting tales. Finally, immortal classic Heidi (and why hasn't Disney co-opted that tale, I wonder?). Which, again, is a simple story about a little girl growing up. I also own the "sequel", Heidi Grows Up, but instead of being by Johanna Spyri, who wrote the original about her childhood in the Swiss Alps, it's by her translator. As I opened it to read again, I felt uncomfortable, as I'm not a big fan of "sequels" not written by the original author, and because I remember the story unfolding in a rather formulaic and uninspired fashion. So I decided not to keep it this time around. More room on someone else's shelf who might appreciate it more.
Whew! At least the stack is shrinking!
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