My story begins forty years ago, when I was preparing to start High School. Over the Christmas holidays I'd amused myself by reading the handful of old Pollyanna books my mother had retained from her teens. They contained a list of the entire series, most of which I discovered were impossible to get hold of. One day, my dad drove me around to several secondhand book dealers we found in the Yellow Pages, to no avail. That was my first rude awakening that sometimes books go out of print and there's nothing we can do about it. It frustrated me no end to discover a series I wanted to read, but was unable to get my hands on.
Still, it's never too early to learn that we can't always get what we want.
Fast forward to the twenty-twenties. Glad Books began popping up here and there when I wasn't even hunting for them. A friend alerted me to several at a local secondhand bookshop, which I went and bought. Then just last winter, I came across a stash at a market stall on its last day running. At that stage I realised I was only three short, and discovered it was possible to order them from different sources online. The reason why they're easier to find now is anyone's guess. Perhaps as the old owners from the thirties through to the fifties are beginning to die off, their old books are being donated by family members to secondhand dealers. No doubt the presence of online sellers makes a huge difference too. The upshot is, I now have all fourteen Glad Books in a lovely row, even though I'm almost 53 instead of 13.
To prove that I'm still just as young at heart, and to make the 40-year gap worthwhile, I'm going to read them all straight through from start to finish this coming year (2023). I have to say I'm looking forward to discovering just what I was missing out on all this time. I've often discussed 'bad mood busting books' on this blog, and if this series lives up to its promise, it ought to be the most cheerful experience enclosed in pages to be found.
Since they are beginning to circulate in the big wide world again, I'll invite you to read them too, or at least follow along if you can. Pictured above are some selected copies from my completed series. How about those old vintage dust jackets, hey?
Okay, several different authors had a hand in writing these, but here is the official order, except that I took Pollyanna at Six Star Ranch from twelfth spot to place at the very end. Since it's the one book written by a later author that flashes back to Pollyanna's youth, it seemed like a more logical decision not to disrupt the flow.
Enjoy!
Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms
I too discovered the books and have fought to complete my series...and then I find my list my list might not be complete. All I know for sure is. I feel better and inspired to be better after reading one. There's also a book I need to find here at home about living more Pollyanna like and it's quite good. This week has been a bit ough and one of suggestions called for saying aloud ...but I can be glad of and it helps..a lot ..so that's not on your list and I saw a list of another book as the end of an online list..I ll try and get it to you..igsis2 @gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI think these 14 are the sum total of the originals, although there may be modern readers who have picked up the slack and slipped through my radar.
DeleteI've hit a bit of a hitch with the Elizabeth Borton titles, as I preferred Eleanor H. Porter and Harriet Lummis Smith. But I'll try to get started again in the new year.
Those books you mention sound great. Yes, do please forward them to me :)
And merry Christmas.
I read every review that you made about the "Glad Books" you're reading, and I could not enjoyed you more. Well, I'm a huge fan of "Pollyanna", and the first book is my favourite. In "Pollyanna growns up",the unnecessary death of Doctor Chilton, and strange love triangles involving Pollyanna and hers friends, made me dislike it and quite frankly regretted reading. I couldn't understand the reason of aunt Polly’s sad destiny in the second book, widowed without any reasonable matter. Porter made Aunt Polly such a strong caracter in the first book and destroyed her life in the second - I will never forgive or forget that. Just to make a plot strong enough to turn them to Beldingsville again - with Pollyanna big enough to marry and left her alone in that big house - and no money. SERIOUSLY, I hate the sequel so much. But, beyond Pollyanna's fan, I'm curious human being, and got myself searching-finding-reading the other sequel books, unfortuntly only to hate them even more. In "Pollyanna and the orange blossoms", I enjoyed so much their beggining of marriaged life, their partnership, but when she gets pregnant and just doesn't tell Jimmy, the storie gets ruinned for me. In “Pollyanna Jewels”, I enjoyed so much the family that her and Jimmy made - they had a big house, 3 beautiful and healthy kids, Nancy living with and helping them. But, again, just kick off aunt Polly (yes, she is annoyng and much incovenient, but guess why, her life really sucks - thanks to Porter “great” idea in vol 2). Now, althout I was expectating Aunt Polly’s death, Harriet decided send her travel the world with some friend (that we didn’t even know existence until now), but it was a end way better of than Dr Chilton’s end - Harriet shows more respect for the original caracters than Porter. “Pollyanna debt of Honour”, we see the kids getting bigger, same Pollyanna heroin changing-saving lives, trying to “moralize” Jamie and Sadie, and, no great plot, as well no great disapointment.
ReplyDeleteAnd the other glad books I just couldn’t found on line, and finally gave up of them! Pollyanna lives in my heart forever, but only the first one - her otther versions I would ratther not have known.
If you keep reading them, I”ll certainlly read your reviews about them. Thanks for your time and you patience, and only one more thing - just for curiosity, aunt Polly show up in another book ou keep travelling around the globe forever? Nancy and Tim are dead, Mr John Pendleton is imortal, Aunt Ruth (nevermind her, I don’t care about her since her only sister Della’s was never even mentionated), Jamie and Sadie still boring…oh God, i just don’t care, but I wanna know. Love and hate - and plenty of curiosity.
(Sorry about my english, I’m learning and starting to practice even more with Pollyanna glad books)
Hi Luciana,
DeleteI'm delighted to hear from you! Our opinions about the Glad Books coincide perfectly for the most part. Those love mix-ups really were frustrating, haha. And as you say, Porter's manipulation of Aunt Polly's life and attitude was very harsh 😥
I now have a few double-ups of the Pollyanna books. If you continue to be unable to find them all, please feel free to contact me again. I may be able to ship some to you. Especially knowing how it feels to be a Pollyanna fan unable to find them all.
(As I've made no secret of, the Elizabeth Borton titles have been disappointing so far though.)
However, you've prompted me to pick up the thread again. I lost heart when I saw there were still two more by her, but it's high time I got on with them. New Year, fresh start. Look out for my reviews of the rest very soon 😄
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ReplyDeleteHi, I love your book review of Glad book series, I live in Brazil and here the books in this series were not released, only the two by Porter were released. I would love for you to review other books by Porter like just David, Mary Marie, Dawn, Miss Billy trilogy, Cross currents, the turning of the tide, the tangled threads, I loved your review of Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms, it's a shame they don't have this book translated into Portuguese otherwise I would read it Without a doubt, I love Porter's books and if you could review them all I would love them, I can't believe that Pollyanna married Jimmy and had three children. If you can access my blog later:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/3425697059254612781
Hey, great to hear from you!
DeleteHere in Australia it's been the same as Brazil for many years. Only Eleanor H. Porter's titles were available for such a long time and the follow-ons from other authors have been out of print for several decades. Only now, some old editions are beginning to surface at last.
I love the thought of reviewing Porter's other novels when I finish the Glad Books, which won't be long now. I remember getting hold of the Miss Billy trilogy along with Just David many years ago, but my memory is sketchy. They will be great to revisit.
In the book I've finished recently, Pollyanna and Jimmy are in their fifties and their kids fully grown, which may be quite difficult for many of us to wrap our heads around.
Finally, you could try getting hold of online versions of the Glad Books, from sources such as Internet Archive or Project Gutenburg. You may have some success. Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms will always be one of my favourites, and I hope you can source it somehow.
Hi, could you please try sending me the link to your blog again?
DeleteHere's a link to my blog, feel free to visit later dear. Regarding ebooks, I have already downloaded all of Porter's books, but I can't understand English, here in Brazil we speak Portuguese. I'm writing this through a translator, because I don't read English, and the only Porter books translated here were Pollyanna and Pollyanna Grows Up.
Deletehttps://blogpipocaecompanhia.blogspot.com/
I loved your review, you could review all of Porter's books.Here is the link to my blog if you want to access it later:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/3425697059254612781
I'll be visiting your blog to explore within the next few days :)
DeleteI loved your suggestions, I’m already using them on my blog. I simply love Eleanor H Porter's books.
DeleteHey there, if you return to this page, could you please re-link, or just tell me the name of your blog to look up. When I tried the link you left, it was broken. And I really would like to visit.
DeleteHere is the link to my blog, feel free to visit later
Deletehttps://blogpipocaecompanhia.blogspot.com/
I would like to see all of Eleanor’s books reviewed on your blog. I read Pollyanna and Pollyanna Grows Up and I was fascinated. It's a shame Porter's other books weren't translated into Portuguese, I'd love to read them.
DeleteHere's the link to my blog, if you want to visit later, feel free, dear.
https://blogpipocaecompanhia.blogspot.com/
I'm glad to find there are more people like me who love Pollyanna since early childhood. My first acquaintance with her was at the age of seven, and the first book of the series was actually one of the first books I ever read. The rest of the books followed one after another. I am Greek, and the Pollyanna books were not all translated to my language. As a matter of fact, the first nine of them were published in Greek, and for many years I thought there were no more titles. It was much later when I discovered there were more of them. During that time I rediscovered Pollyanna, this time in her original language. After much hunting out I managed to obtain all 14 books of the series, not only in the original English text, but also in the first editions, which was a precious gift for me. It is really wonderful to have the entire Pollyanna collection in these rare hardcover editions which other people before me have read and enjoyed. I'm in my early fifties too, but I still love these books the same way I loved them as a child.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm looking forward to reading your opinion about Pollyanna at Six Star Ranch. Doesn't that book seem a little inconsistent to the chronological order of Pollyanna's story? I could read the entire series excluding that one and never miss anything.
Hi Fay,
DeleteIt's a rare and wonderful thing for readers like us to have all 14 of the books actually sitting on our shelves, let alone first editions like yours! Truly something to be glad about. What a treasure you have sitting on your bookshelf. They must look fabulous.
I can totally understand why that original book set off a love of reading in you.
Yes, I decided to leave Six Star Ranch until last when I saw what a flashback it is. Porter didn't leave much room for other authors to return to Pollyanna's childhood but it looks like Moffitt took the opportunity anyway.
I am a HUGE Pollyanna fan. On the inside cover of Pollyanna's Protegee, there is a list of other Glad books and it states that Margaret Piper Chalmers wrote a sequel: Pollyanna's Protegee in Richmond. It says before it: "In Preparation." I guess it never was published, but Oh how I would LOVE to read the manuscript for it! The book I have was Published by Grosset and Dunlap. Does anyone have an idea about how we could find that book?
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like they announced it way too early, which is a shame. Your copy of Pollyanna's Protegee might be a bit of a collector's item to have that announcement, as mine certainly doesn't 😀 Mine wasn't Grosset and Dunlap but Angus and Robertson. My guess is that the Plollyanna in Richmond manuscript was probably lost long ago, but at least it's easier to search for needles in haystacks than it ever used to be.
Delete