Anne of Green Gables
An elderly brother and sister ask an orphanage for a boy to help on their farm and receive a girl instead. Anne Shirley talks constantly, invents names for everything, and gradually changes the household that did not want her. Montgomery wrote it in 1908 and it has never been out of print.
The book is episodic and often funny, and its portrait of rural Prince Edward Island is detailed and affectionate. Anne's temper and her mistakes are treated seriously, which is why children trust the book. The later sequels are more sentimental; this one is the best.
Public-domain status
First published in 1908. In the United States, works published before 1930 are in the public domain. In the European Union the general term is the life of the author plus 70 years; L. M. Montgomery died in 1942, so this work has been free to republish there since 2013.
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Keep reading
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- Reading lists — 19 ways through the collection
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