Originally published by Houghton Mifflin, it tells the story of a young boy, David, who must learn to adapt to living with others after the death of his recluse father; along the way, the villagers and his adoptive parents adopt as much or more to him. Though criticized by reviewers as "mush" and "too perfectly lovely, "the novel was very popular in the early half of the twentieth century in middle and high schools, and has recently seen a number of reprints. The novel is translated in Chinese (1959) and Russian (2005).

Pollyanna might just be a poor orphan but she knows something that lots of grown-ups don't -- how to be happy.

'Most generally there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.'

When her father dies, Pollyanna is sent to live with her stern Aunt Polly. She is poor, orphaned and alone but Pollyanna just feels lucky to have an aunt at all. The truth is that her dear father, before he died, taught her a trick for life -- the 'Glad Game' -- the aim of which is to find the good in every bad situation. Before long,...