Lucy Maud Montgomery
If your young reader has not read Lucy Maud Montgomery’s series of the adventures of Anne Shirley and her daughter Rilla, get thee to a bookstore! The Anne of Green Gables series follows Anne Shirley through her adult marriage and family years. The adventures then pick up with her daughter Rilla and the challenges of war time. Montgomery’s books (the basic set is eight volumes) are filled with intriguing plots and characters who rise above common ground–a good influence for young readers. Her characters have lofty yet honest and ethical goals but are still human, making mistakes they must realize consequences for. Montgomery’s works contain good plots which are resolved through a fair amount of single and continuing conflicts, much like real life. In the first novel, for example, Anne is faced with a dilemma concerning her honor–she gave her word! Honesty and fairness tempered with grace are the trademarks of these characters. I recently read a three book series by Elizabeth Massie: The Daughters of Liberty Series. This is a new work which takes young girls Patsy and Barb to historic Philadelphia where they experience normal 12 year old escapades but with a small dose of real history thrown in. The two girls help to deliver a message to the Continental Congress when a wounded soldier is not able to complete the mission. The author promises that more books of the same kind are in the works.