There have been many popular books for girls written about intelligent and enterprising girls who are often orphaned and therefore confronted with challenging and surprising situations. Their trials and tribulations, revelations and relationships are satisfying and absorbing themes for many young female minds. The hapless but lovable Anne of Green Gables on idyllic Prince Edward Island in Canada was a character and a source of comfort I would return to repeatedly over the years.
She appealed to the dreamer and unintentional non-conformist in me. I was roused by her extremes of childish passion and found her bitterly felt grievances, inflected with amusing melodrama, endearing. Paralleled by my own dawning consciousness of boys was her grudgingly awakening respect for her admirer Gilbert. Thanks to L. M. Montgomery, we have the pleasure of understanding Anne before she understands herself. She was bookish, as I was becoming, contemplative, sensitive, homely and high-strung. She was flawed and she was wonderful!
-Kyla Mackenzie
For more information, check out Anne’s website.
Check back tomorrow to learn about a fictional heroine who had quite a few adventures down a rabbit hole.