• Anne of Avonlea (1909) •
Incorporated actual events:
1) "She hung up her hat and faced her pupils, hoping that she did not look as frightened and foolish as she felt and that they would not perceive how she was trembling." (Chapter 5)
"Some of my own experiences in school-teaching were reflected in it, but in the atmosphere only, not in the incidents. I felt exactly as Anne felt when she opened school the first day - and I was as woefully tired and discouraged at night."
2) "Anne, I've made up my mind about heaven. I don't want to go there. Cause heaven is in Simon Fletcher's garret, and I don't like Simon Fletcher." (Chapter 16)
"One Sunday, when I could not have been more than four years old, I was in the old Clifton Church with Aunt Emily. I heard the minister say something about Heaven - that strange, mysterious place about which my only definite idea was that it was "where Mother had gone."
"Where is Heaven?" I whispered to Aunt Emily...she pointed upward...I took it for granted that this meant that portion of Clifton Church which was above the ceiling. There was a little square hole in the ceiling. Why could we not go up through it and see Mother? This was a great puzzle to me. I resolved that when I grew bigger I would go to Clifton and find some means of getting up into Heaven and finding Mother. This belief and hope was a great, though secret, comfort to me for several years. Heaven was no remote, unattainable place - "some brilliant but distant shore." No, no! It was only ten miles away, in the attic of Clifton Church! Very, very sadly and slowly I surrendered that belief."
Book Reviews:
"Always endearing and often funny, Anne is a constant source of entertainment and her activities and schemes never seem to lose their fresh enthusiasm. With her big and generous heart Anne is forever loveable."
- Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review"Anne of Avonlea is a novel that appeals to both young and old. Anne's free spirit is essential to this classic story that not only makes you laugh, but invites you into a world of open imagination. Her intriguing personality captures a broad audience, and I would say the series is a must-read for those with Anne's "kindred spirit."
- Teen Ink: A Magazine and Book Series Written by Teens for Teens
Quiz:
Bibliography:
Montgomery, Lucy Maud; Rubio, Mary and Elizabeth Waterston. The Selected
Journals
of L.M. Montgomery, Vol. 2: 1910-1921. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press,
1987.