Polly: A New-Fashioned Girl

Fourteen-year-old Polly Perkins is trouble with a capital T. She climbs trees, captures thrushes, and refuses to sit still in a pinafore. When her mother dies suddenly, Polly's world collapses into grief and chaos, and she's forced to become the woman of the house overnight. L. T. Meade's 1889 novel captures something timeless: the excruciating moment when childhood ends and no one asks permission. Polly's not interested in being a perfect little mourner. She's determined to run the household her way, even when her siblings' expectations and her own heartbreak threaten to overwhelm her. The novel endures because it's not a sentimental weepie about a good girl accepting her fate. Polly's got spark. She's what the title promises: a new-fashioned girl, finding her own way through devastation. Perfect for readers who loved Anne of Green Gables and wanted more stories about girls who refuse to be small.