Pollyanna by Eleanor Hodgman Porter: Annotated

Pollyanna is a 1913 children's novel by American writer Eleanor H. Porter. It is the first in a multi-author series of thirteen novels, collectively titled Glad Books. The novel introduces the series' protagonist, a young, optimistic, occasionally naive girl named Pollyanna, who deals with the everyday trials of being an adolescent in a small town. Pollyanna's character is the origin of the "Pollyanna principle," a psychological term regarding the tendency for humans to remember...
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Pollyanna is a 1913 children's novel by American writer Eleanor H. Porter. It is the first in a multi-author series of thirteen novels, collectively titled Glad Books. The novel introduces the series' protagonist, a young, optimistic, occasionally naive girl named Pollyanna, who deals with the everyday trials of being an adolescent in a small town. Pollyanna's character is the origin of the "Pollyanna principle," a psychological term regarding the tendency for humans to remember positive experiences more fully than negative ones. The book was one of the first widely popular children's novels in American history and has been adapted into several films. At the beginning of the novel, Pollyanna's aunt, Miss Polly Harrington, instructs her maid Nancy to set up the attic room. She anticipates the arrival of Pollyanna, recently orphaned by the death of her father, making clear her disdain for children. Miss Polly's sister, Pollyanna's mother, died several years before, but she still bitterly disproves of her marriage. She had married the kind minister who would become Pollyanna's father after turning down an offer from a rich man. While Nancy prepares the room, the gardener, Old Tom, explains Miss Polly's sad history: she became a bitter woman after a romance that turned sour. She still harbors affection for the man, who lives nearby.