A Girl of the Limberlost

By: Gene Stratton-Porter


Published: 1909


Synopsis:


"A Girl of the Limberlost (1909) by Gene Stratton Porter is the story of a poor Indiana girl Elnora Comstock who lives with her emotionally abusive mother, a stern heartless widow, at the edge of the Limberlost Swamp. Elnora attends school against her mother's wishes, fighting every inch of the way for her dream of an education, and collects and sells moths and other rare biological specimens from the swamp to pay for her schooling, books, and bare necessities. At first a laughingstock of her fellow students, Elnora persists against unfair odds, and asserts her true self. A wonderful turn-of-the-century novel of discovery of identity, wonders of nature, friendship, family trust, love, and the process of growing up in the magical shadow of the Limberlost." (Amazon.com)

Pollyanna

By: Eleanor H. Porter


Published: 1913


Synopsis:


"Life couldn’t be much worse for Pollyanna Whittier after her father dies and she is sent to live with stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna carries on as her father would have wanted her to, looking for the best, even in bad situations. Lefkow imbues this timeless 1913 classic with a turn-of-the-century flair yet wisely eschews a saccharine portrayal of the bubbly and adventurous Pollyanna. Lefkow’s reading embraces the characters as she varies her tones to indicate changes in their personalities. Cheerful Pollyanna softens gruff John Pendleton, cantankerous and demanding Mrs. Snow, and frosty Aunt Polly. Piano interludes punctuate chapter endings. This entertaining release of a junior classic may revive interest in this once popular novel." (Amazon.com)

Caddie Woodlawn

By: Carol Ryrie Brink


Published: 1935


Synopsis:


At age 11, Caddie Woodlawn is the despair of her mother and the pride of her father: a clock-fixing tomboy running wild in the woods of Wisconsin. In 1864, this is a bit much for her Boston-bred mother to bear, but Caddie and her brothers are happy with the status quo. Written in 1935 about Carol Ryrie Brink's grandmother's childhood, the adventures of Caddie and her brothers are still exciting over 60 years later. With each chapter comes another ever-more exciting adventure: a midnight gallop on her horse across a frozen river to warn her American Indian friends of the white men's plan to attack; a prairie fire approaching the school house; and a letter from England that may change the family's life forever. This Newbery Medal-winning book bursts at the seams with Caddie's irrepressible spirit. In spite of her mother's misgivings, Caddie is a perfect role model for any girl--or boy, for that matter. She's big-hearted, she's brave, and she's mechanically inclined!

Cold Comfort Farm

By: Stella Gibbons


Published: 1932


Synopsis:


"Winner of the 1933 Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, Cold Comfort Farm is a witty, irreverent parody of the works of Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence. Flora Poste, left an orphan at the end of her "expensive, athletic, and prolonged" education, sets off for her relatives at Cold Comfort Farm, despite dire warnings of doom and damnation. Once there she encounters Seth, full of rampant sexuality; Elfine, who flits in and out in a cloak that is decidedly the wrong color; Meriam, the hired girl who gets pregnant every year when the "sukebind is in bloom;" and Aunt Ada Doom, the aging, reclusive matriarch who once "saw something nasty in the woodshed." Flora decides to "tidy up life at Cold Comfort Farm." Mocking Hardy's and Lawrence's melodrama, sensuality, and use of symbolism, Stella Gibbons has Flora, with her no-nonsense attitude, give Elfine a good haircut, teach Meriam some elementary lessons in birth control and send various morose, rural relatives off to happier fates. Cold Comfort Farm is funny even without a background in Hardy or Lawrence, but for those readers who have been frustrated attempting to find exactly where in Tess of the D'Urbervilles Tess is "seduced," or who have plowed through the intensity of Sons and Lovers, Cold Comfort Farm is sweet, hilarious revenge." (Amazon.com)

I Capture the Castle

By: Dodie Smith


Published: 1954 (I'm blurring the "mid" 20th century with this one)


Synopsis:


"Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain wants to become a writer. Trouble is, she's the daughter of a once-famous author with a severe case of writer's block. Her family--beautiful sister Rose, brooding father James, ethereal stepmother Topaz--is barely scraping by in a crumbling English castle they leased when times were good. Now there's very little furniture, hardly any food, and just a few pages of notebook paper left to write on. Bravely making the best of things, Cassandra gets hold of a journal and begins her literary apprenticeship by refusing to face the facts. She writes, "I have just remarked to Rose that our situation is really rather romantic, two girls in this strange and lonely house. She replied that she saw nothing romantic about being shut up in a crumbling ruin surrounded by a sea of mud." Rose longs for suitors and new tea dresses while Cassandra scorns romance: "I know all about the facts of life. And I don't think much of them." But romantic isolation comes to an end both for the family and for Cassandra's heart when the wealthy, adventurous Cotton family takes over the nearby estate. Cassandra is a witty, pensive, observant heroine, just the right voice for chronicling the perilous cusp of adulthood. Some people have compared I Capture the Castle to the novels of Jane Austen, and it's just as well-plotted and witty. But the Mortmains are more bohemian--as much like the Addams Family as like any of Austen's characters. Dodie Smith, author of 101 Dalmations, wrote this novel in 1948. And though the story is set in the 1930s, it still feels fresh, and well deserves its reputation as a modern classic." (Amazon.com)


My Thoughts:


I feel very close to Cassandra, and this book. Sometimes you meet a character who so closely mirrors yourself that you start knowing what they are going to say before you read the words. That is how I felt the first time I read this. It will always be one of my favorite books. If I ever want to remember how I felt when I was 17, all I have to do is read this again. It was published in 1954, which makes it sort of outside the lines of this genre, but it is set in the 1930s.

The Time of Roses

By: L.T. Meade


Published: 1900


Synopsis:


"A moving story of beauty and truth, The Time of Roses tells the tale of Florence Aylmer, a young woman who travels to London alone to make her way in the world." (Amazon.com)


My Thoughts:


I just placed an order for this book because I have never read it. The synopsis is pathetic, I know; but I can't find anything better online. Apparently, it was not very popular. We shall see.

Heidi

By: Johanna Spyri


Published: 1880


Synopsis:


"Heidi is only five when she goes to live with her grandfather in his hut in the Swiss Alps. She befriends the goatherd Peter and delights in the company of the goats. Everyone is sad when she is taken to live with a family in Frankfurt, but her courage help her manage to return to the mountains." (Amazon.com)


My Thoughts:


I will admit that this is more of a children's book than young adult. Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children seemed more mature and were far more interesting to me; but Heidi is a classic and I love it.