I actually liked all of the kids, even though Felicity got on my nerves at times. The narrative is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly in Antigua in the 1980’s. Unlike Montomgery's Anne series, The Story Girl sadly gets little to no attention, which is a horrible shame as it's very wonderfully written and on par with Anne of Green Gables as far as exploring childhood. Although nothing could ever supplant the "Anne" books as my favorites, I loved all her novels, and returned to them many times. The poem Girl by Jamaica Kincaid, appears to be something like a lecture from a mother to her daughter. Plot Summary | Add Synopsis [s], Goodreads Members Share the Books They've Been Rereading. [4] Stanley in her first scene stands "gay and graceful" and promises she can tell some "witch stories" that "will freeze the blood in your veins". I love ensemble casts, so obviously this was the book for me. I love all of the characters, especially Cecily. The Story Girl By: Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) Revealed to be a personal favorite by Montgomery herself, The Story Girl follows the lives of a group of young children as they experience a summer of charming and realistically clumsy adventures. Along with various cousins and other soon-to-be-friends, they meet their Sara Stanley, the Story Girl, a cousin who has a story for every situation. A much-needed diversion. This book is about Sara Stanley's stories that she tells to others. It’s near the end — last third or fourth of the book. While the setting of the story is not expressly stated by the author in the narrative, the reader is able to understand the culture for which Girl … Felix is named after one of their uncles and Felicity is named after one of their aunts, and that uncle and aunt are the same age as each other because they are twins. The first time I read Jamaica Kincaid’s story, I read it as my students do. The story of “Girl” conveys the experiences of being a young ‘girl’ in a different cultural society than our own. Some of the story girls stories were fun, for instance, the story of how kissing was invented (I read that one aloud to my husband) but I didn't know how the kids didn't get sick of this girl constantly saying, "I know a story about that!" [6] Sara the story girl wins the love of Peter, and bests her more pretty rival Felicity for his affections not through her looks, but rather because of her sense of humor, her ability to see what others cannot not, and a mystical sense of the beauty of the world.<[6] Montgomery wrote about the difference between the two: "Her face was like a rose of youth. And Peter's sermon. Only when I finally realized ( more than halfway through the book) what Montgomery's intent was with this one, I managed to truly enjoy what I read. A television film of Stan’s story called The Girl in the Box was made in 2016. Oh, oh, oh. This one was just ok. When I reread a book from my childhood, I normally find I have forgotten large chunks of the story. The passing days include playful fancies, raucous romps, and poetic tales (as narrated by their cousin Sara Stanley, th. “Everyone’s always heard … the phrase, you ‘throw like a girl’ or like that kind of off-the-cuff response, and I thought it would be cool to kind of take that back,” she recalled of the patch’s origin story during a March 11 interview with Air Force Magazine. They spend their leisure time with their cousins Dan, Felicity and Cecily King, hired boy Peter Craig, neighbor Sara Ray and another cousin, Sara Stanley. Being written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, I anticipated reading a beautiful heartwarming tale, but instead I was sadly disappointed. This book is a story of a simpler, innocent time for youngsters. To see what your friends thought of this book. There was a couple chapters where the kids read in the newspaper that someone predicted the next Sunday would be judgment day and the kids were so nervous it was annoying and disturbing. [6] Like Montgomery, the Story Girl longs for an absent father whom she never sees. The Story Girl is a 1911 novel by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery. The New Yorker published Kincaid’s short story “Girl” in 1978, her first piece of fiction. It is this author who has helped me understand children more and even long for my childhood years where I played with kittens in the countryside and climbed into trees to read. [13] Through the teenagers are frightened, it is all presented very humorously as mere triflings. [6] The Story girl has a somewhat dreamy quality not only to her stories, but herself as she says "I'd like a dress of moonshine with stars for buttons". It is a harsh one sided conversation between the narrator and her mother, with the mother doing all the talking. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. It's not my favourite Montgomery. Beverley and Felix (two brothers) get to visit their father's childhood home on Prince Edward Island. In the charming town of Carlisle, children and grown-ups alike flock from miles around to hear her spellbinding tales. It narrates the adventures of a group of young cousins and their friends who live in a rural community on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Some points were downright annoying and I wondered why I even kept reading it. The story is so popular in part because it speaks to so many audiences, including young people, African Americans, and women. [12] However, in the book, death is often spoken in, but mocked with the threat of death being reduced down to a sick cat and case of measles, through Stanley's story about the arrogant princess who refused love and married death hints at the more darker side of Montgomery's personality. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. She intends the advice to both help her daughter and scold her at the same time. [6] Just as Sara the Story Girl shines, so does the "other Sara" stand in her shadow, a sad girl unable to find happiness. [3] Short, sweet, delightful story. I wanted it to be another Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon, but this book is clearly lighter fare. Montgomery is my hands-down favorite author, and this is her best book. [11] At the time she was writing the book, several of Montgomery's relatives had recently died, causing her to have an obsession with death. It reminded me so much of my own childhood, enjoying the summer with my cousins, climbing hills and trees, exploring caves and closets; when the world became our playground and the days never ended. I confess, I was halfway through The Story Girl before it really grabbed me, but the more I read it, the more I grew attached to the characters. The central voice is that of the unnamed mother; the reader must assume that the girl of the title is her daughter, although the relationship is never stated. [13] Despite the light tone, the Story Girl's tales about angels whose love was forbidden changed the constellations and that of the proud man who blasphemed God's name and was punished by torn apart by Satan's claw forever in Hell shows the more serious side of Montgomery's faith. But when the Story Girl spoke, we forgot to look at Felicity". We asked the... Sara Stanley is only fourteen, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist. Girl. It's probably my second-favorite LMM ever, after Rilla of Ingleside. This was not the tacked-on religiosity of most Christian novels. It's probably my second-favorite LMM ever, after Rilla of Ingleside. In 1917, Montgomery opined that The Story Girl was her favorite of the novels she had written by that time. I love that my kids will listen to, and enjoy, a 100+ year old book. [7], At the time she was writing the novel in 1909–10, Montgomery was engaged to a Presbyterian minister whom she did not love, the Reverend Ewen Macdonald, whom she was to marry in 1911, and in the book, Montgomery has the characters give mock-sermons that ridiculed the speaking styles of Presbyterian ministers. Oh, oh, oh. Whether she's leading them on exciting misadventure or. I felt like I was friends with these children. And while she looks so sad and lonely there, I absolutely love her, Sara Stanley is only fourteen, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist. [8] Montgomery knew when she wed Macdonald that she would leave Prince Edward Island for Ontario, and at the time she started writing the book in the summer of 1909 was overcome with nostalgia for her teenage years. 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