An Old-Fashioned Girl

This story is so charming and it's impossible not to fall in love with the characters. I only wish it didn't end so soon!

This was a lesser known Louisa May Alcott book to me. It was one of the choices for my kids' freshman year in their homeschool program. It's a wholesome story with loveable characters. Even my boys enjoyed the story.

This may not have been THE best book ever written, but I will always love Louisa May Alcott. It was an interesting glimpse back into history using a charming story.

Do you ever feel like you are tied up in our times? Worrying too much about cell phones, fashions, and the latest whatevers? This book can set you straight. It gives you a peace of mind and fills you with simple pleasures.The stories main character, Polly, we meet at the age of 14. She has come to stay with rich friends for a while. THey do everything so differently from she. The family has two daughters. One that is two years older than Polly called Fan, who cares for fashion, balls, and beaus. The author daughter is six and she is fixed onoo having her own way about everything. THe young man in the family Tom is a trouble maker, who no matter how hard he tries can't seem to stay out of trouble very long.Polly is a gentle, kind, loving, caring, selfless, practical, and sensible girl. SHe becomes a great service to this family, touching each of them in a special way. She moves in the same town six years later and gives piano lessons. The family needs her more than ever and she helps them all in the end. This book has heart, romance, and realness to it that we can all relate to, rich or poor, young or old. It will make you feel warm fuzzies. Read on a rainy day underneath a flanel blanket!

The recipient just got and she loves it! She has something to say enjoy reading to night!

Before I begin, this rating has three stars not because of the novel's content but because of the fact that this copy is not a book at all. It deserves one star. It is far bigger than a normal book. I have owned textbooks small this.I have read this book before and it is wonderful, deserving of five stars! My friend who introduced Alcott to me warned me Polly is a little Pollyanna/Elsie Densmore-ish, so I was hesitant at first. While Polly is on the perfect side, it did not bother me in this book. I love Polly and all of the supporting characters. The values Polly exhibits are wonderful character qualities. The book has a light-hearted feel, a well-written style, and message of finding happiness in spite of your circumstances.However, if you pride yourself as being a woman of modern thought, you will absolutely hate this book (really most Alcott in general). It is wonderful if you consider yourself an old fashioned girl, as I do in many respects, but if you hold to contemporary mainstream ideas of feminism you will not enjoy Polly or the book at all.If you can find a better copy, An Old Fashioned Girl definitely is an absolutely wonderful edition for your library!

Louisa May Alcott's durable classic "An Old-Fashioned Girl" is an engaging morality tale wrapped around a period romance, and evidence, if the reader needs it, that young people haven't changed very much in their essentials since this novel was first published in 1870.The story is told in two parts. In the first portion, fourteen year old Polly Milton comes to Boston to stay with her wealthy friend Fanny Shaw, who lives the frenetic if somewhat empty life of a budding socialite. Polly, the classic poor country mouse in the big city, makes up for her lack of sophistication with modesty, a good heart, and a good example for Fanny and her siblings Tom and Maud. By the time she ends her summer visit, she has made a good impression on every member of the Shaw household.The novel then jumps ahead six years, as a twenty-year old Polly returns to make her own living as a music teacher. She is welcomed by the Shaws, whose children are wrestling with adult challenges. Polly makes a niche for herself through hard work, but will find herself on the horns of a difficult romantic dilemma betweent two men, and called upon to assist a Shaw family in crisis.As with many period novels, Louisa May Alcott follows a traditional plot formula. However, the real entertainment is in her superb telling of the story. "An Old-Fashioned Girl" is very highly recommended to fans of her novels.

I bought this for me, and I still read it. Great book. Good for kids, too.Polly:"If it were OK for me to do it, I wouldn't fee so ashamed""When I feel bad, let me go and find something to do that will make things better in general, I'm sure it will make me feel better"

great story line! would definitely recommend!

I had been thinking of buying this book but only recently could I get a copy. This edition is so beautiful and amazing and I love the copy! It was given in time and in completely new condition.

I had this book as a girl and was delighted to find it again. Though written by the author of "Little Women" this is different and more individual. It is the story of a poor girl going to live with her rich relatives. Then the tables are turned and she is able to help them through times of poverty due to bancruptcy. She shares all the little "tricks" to save money and "make do and mend". This is a completely new world to them, but her familiar ground. A really lovely story, beautifully told.  The Best of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo's Boys, An Old-Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom (Annotated 7 great books in one)The Best of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo's Boys, An Old-Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom (Annotated 7 great books in one)

this is a very heart touching novel about Polly Milton. I loved this book

I just simply love the story here: a modest, earnest and thoroughly good-hearted Polly is such an interesting protagonist and I love her ideals in life and how she lives by them.