Anne of Green Gables

Review written by my 11 year old daughter, MRValentine.

Anne of Green Gables is about Anne Shirley and her adventures at Green Gables in Avonlea. She gets into all kinds of trouble, finds friends, and loses her temper about her “hair of the most disastrous red.”

I liked the book because you can find connections with Anne. You say, “I remember feeling like that,” or “I remember once doing that,” and then you know how it feels. It was fun to read because you can make connections with Anne and also because she is very dramatic. She will talk about things from being an orphan to cherry blossoms. While reading, I thought about what Anne was talking about and the things that Anne asked while she talking. Sometimes it was funny, sometimes it was happy, and sometimes it was sad. But overall, I enjoyed it.

SPOILER ALERT: Things you might want to know before suggesting this to your kid

Violence

No one really fights, but a few people insult Anne’s hair. Anne unleashes the angry bull that is her temper on them.

Death

Near the end, an important character dies. It is VERY sad. He is old and it happens naturally, but it is still sad.

Scary Stuff

In the book, Anne names the haunted wood, in which there are ghosts, and some kids might find that scary.

Religion & God

Religion is a very big part of this book. Anne goes to church and Sunday school. Marilla makes Anne say her prayers and says that she is a wicked girl for not saying her prayers before bed and that God wants little girls to. That might really work some people up.

Drugs & Alcohol

Sometimes, Matthew smokes. And once, Anne gives her friend what she thinks is raspberry cordial, but turns out to be currant wine. Anne’s friend gets drunk and her mother forbids her to ever play with Anne again.

Stereotypes & Prejudices

Marilla doesn’t want to keep Anne because she is not a boy. She also says no to getting a foreign boy. And the girls in Anne’s class refer to the boys as, well, “The boys.”

Family

Anne, Marilla, and Matthew get along pretty well. Matthew simply adores Anne, but stays out of her bringing up. Marilla never tells Anne what her thoughts about Anne are. This sort of bothers me.

Lessons Learned

There are some important lessons in this book. Eventually, Anne mentions most of them, such as not being vain, not believing in your imagination too much, and learning how to control her temper.

Recommendation

I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone who likes reading. There’s nothing really that I think would bother anyone. It is realistic/historical fiction with a drop of fantasy in the form of Anne’s imagination. I would recommend this book to 9+. Under about 9, you might not have enough experience to make the connections that make this book fun. Older than 14, you can look back on it. Anyone who likes historical fiction and has no problem with fairies and ghosts and is up for long read would like it.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Published in 1908 by L.C. Page & Co.
First in the series
Hardcopy borrowed from school