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Who doesn’t love Anne of Green Gables? Almost 120 years after its wildly successful publication, the tale of the little orphan girl who finds family and home with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert of Green Gables remains as enchanting as ever. Generation upon generation has fallen in love with this enduring story, with parents or other elders often passing it down to the children in their lives.
In my case, this book found me as an adult. However, I felt like a kid again as I stood witness to Anne’s daring adventures, carefree and full of wonder—a feeling I was not expecting but that I cherished nonetheless. Ever since then, I’ve been on the hunt for books like Anne of Green Gables. By this I mean: books with the same ineffable charm, that capture the joy and beauty and marvel of life, often through the eyes of a child. Of course, Emily of New Moon and L.M. Montgomery’s other books make the cut, but I wanted to look beyond.
The four books gathered here meet every one of those requirements. And although they’ve been published recently, they all have the timeless quality of Anne herself.
Anne of Greenville by Mariko Tamaki
Anne, a Japanese American artist, is not best pleased when she moves to Greenville and her disco performance is booed by the soccer team. Still, she meets Berry for her troubles, and the two quickly become best friends. Once she meets Gilly, the girl of her dreams, it all seems perfect. Except… who is she supposed to end up with?
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Calpurnia “Callie” Tate has a lot of questions, many of them about the natural world. She sets out in pursuit of answers with the help of her cranky, yet knowledgeable, naturalist grandfather. When she’s not busy being a budding scientist, Callie is just an eleven-year-old at the turn of the twentieth century, growing into herself and navigating girlhood.
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When the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Minli is willing to do anything to help her family. In this case, “anything” includes going on a magical quest to find the Old Man on the Moon and ask for his help. There’s only one problem: he belongs to the old Chinese folktales her father told her. Can she find him? Can the Old Man on the Moon change the family’s fortune? This is a novel about family, born and found.
Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
Mandy is a ten-year-old orphan who dreams of having her own home. One day, exploring beyond the walls of the orphanage, she finds an abandoned cottage and sets out to make it hers. Unfortunately, because she told nobody about the cottage, no one knows where to find her when she falls ill there. Fortunately, she finds help in an unexpected source.
If you can’t get enough of book-a-likes, may I interest you in 7 adaptations and retellings of Anne of Green Gables to read with your bosom friends? What about revisiting the 30 most entertaining and uplifting Anne of Green Gables quotes?
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