Pollyanna

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same very optimistic outlook.

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter is a children's book focusing on the life of a little orphan girl. The orphan Pollyanna is forced to live with her strict Aunt Polly, who resents having to look after Pollyanna, because both of her parents passed away.

When Pollyanna Whittier's loving but impoverished father dies, she is left orphaned and alone. Her wealthy spinster aunt, Aunt Polly, agrees to take her in, so she and her few belongs are packed onto an eastbound train. Pollyanna looks forward to living with her aunt, but Aunt Polly is cold and strict. She puts Pollyanna in a musty attic room and expects her to keep quiet and stay out of the way.

When young and upbeat Pollyanna is left an orphan, her life seems to be very bleak. Pollyanna is sent to live with her Aunt Polly, a cold woman who does not share Pollyanna’s optimism or joy. Pollyanna resists falling into sadness, until another tragedy shakes up her world. Left paralyzed by a terrible accident, Pollyanna finds that staying happy is not always going to be easy. As she realizes the misfortune that she has had, she finds it harder and harder to stay positive and bright. 

When Pollyanna was published in 1913, it became an overnight success. It immediately sold over a million copies as young and old alike fell in love with the little freckled orphan girl and her spirited optimism. Many of Beldingsville’s citizens are ill, misguided, and even despairing. The sparkling, ingenuous 11-year-old who descends upon them with her "glad game" gives them renewed hope and changes their lives forever. Then unexpected tragedy strikes, and Pollyanna can no longer find the silver lining in any cloud.

The hard hearts of Aunt Polly, Mrs. Snow and "the man" are no match for the appealing ways of the eternally optimistic Pollyanna.

Pollyanna, an expert at her favorite "Glad Game" of always looking at the bright side in her numerous trials, is one of the most popular and enduring characters in all of children's literature. As Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville to live with her strict and dutiful maiden aunt, she exclaims, "Oh, Aunt Polly, I don't know how to be glad enough that you let me come to live with you!"

A classic of children's literature, Pollyanna's success led to Porter writing a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up. Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published. Pollyanna has been adapted for film several times.

Miss Polly Harrington was content in her solitary life as a wealthy spinster, enjoying her quiet and orderly homestead in Vermont. She didn't care that her staff whispered and grumbled about her behind her back...she liked things the way they were. Until one day, a letter arrived from a far Western town, informing her of a newly-orphaned niece with nowhere to go.

As soon as Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville to live with her strict and dutiful maiden aunt, she begins to brighten up everybody's life. The 'glad game' she plays, of finding a silver lining in every cloud, transforms the sick, the lonely and the plain miserable - until one day something so terrible happens that even Pollyanna doesn't know how to feel glad about it. 

Pollyanna, an expert at her favorite "Glad Game" of always looking at the bright side in her numerous trials, is one of the most popular and enduring characters in all of children's literature.

The first of many sequels to Porter's best-selling Pollyanna.