The Gate of the Giant Scissors

An American girl sits in a pear tree in France, weeping for home. That's how Annie F. Johnston opens this tender tale of a young exile finding her place in an unfamiliar world. Joyce has been sent to live with her wealthy cousin Kate and her aristocratic family, but the beautiful chateau feels like a prison. She doesn't speak the language, she doesn't understand the customs, and everyone assumes she should be grateful for her privileged new life. Then she discovers it: the ancient gate marked with giant scissors, locked and silent, nobody able to explain its purpose. Behind it lies a goatherd named Jules, a boy roughly her age, beaten and starved by a cruel caretaker who uses him for labor. Joyce recognizes something in Jules that the wealthy adults around her refuse to see. Together, the American girl and the French boy will unravel the mystery of the gate and discover that courage sometimes means fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. Part of the beloved Little Colonel series, this book captures the particular ache of childhood displacement and the fierce friendships that grow from shared loneliness.