Louisa May Alcott: Her Girlhood Diary - Hardcover

Alcott, Louisa May

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 081673139X ISBN 13: 9780816731398

Publisher: Bridgewater Books, 1993

Synopsis

Through journals that the noted author of Little Women kept from the ages of ten to thirteen, young readers can learn about her inspirations and follow her progress as a writer.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 5-8-Ryan has taken writings from Louisa May Alcott's early diary and combined them with excerpts from Little Women as well as biographical information, resulting in a confusing book that does not give a complete picture of the subject. Samples from her diary, her poetry, and notes she wrote to her mother clearly reflect that Alcott had an unhappy childhood and that, due to her religious upbringing, she was constantly trying to be "good." The book is illustrated with several full-color, full-page paintings, which look like some of the illustrations from the time of Little Women. Readers looking for additional information about Alcott might find this book interesting, especially if they themselves are thinking of becoming writers. However, anyone needing a complete and organized biography will have to look elsewhere.
Margaret C. Howell, West Springfield Elementary School, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Written when Alcott was between the ages of 10 and 13, these lucid diary entries in essence provide a behind-the-scenes look at her classic novel, Little Women . Quotes from that novel, as well as Ryan's insightful annotations, reinforce the parallel between Alcott's fiction and her childhood years. Born in 1832, Alcott and her three sisters had a regimented upbringing on Fruitlands, the experimental Massachusetts farm begun by their father and a friend. After the farm failed, the family moved into the Concord home that became the model for the setting of Little Women . Here, Alcott "at last got the little room I have wanted so long," in which she continued to sharpen her writing skills. According to Ryan, Alcott's father nurtured in her "what she needed to become a writer: a love and mastery of language and a freedom and power of expression." On the basis of this volume--which contains a sampling of her heartfelt, strikingly sophisticated poetry--Alcott achieved these goals at an impressively young age. Polished, period paintings by Graham ( Roommates ; Lottie's Dream ) present affecting portraits of the girl who so eloquently expresses herself on these pages. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A few revealing fragments: excerpts from the diary Alcott started at ten; her mother's responses to it; Louisa's own comments, added as an adult (when she destroyed much of the original diary); letters; and parallel quotes from Little Women (pairing Beth's death with Alcott's account of her sister Lizzie's--the only entry dating from her 20s--is particularly poignant; in its simplicity and directness, the diary is even more eloquent). In step with recent biographers, Ryan's commentary and selections present the Alcott family as troubled: Bronson's vaunted Socratic method is seen as virtual bullying, his wife's exhaustion such that Louisa's lifelong ambition was to alleviate her toil, and Louisa herself bedeviled with the impossibility of being ``good'' (suppressing her emotions). Still, Little Women is not an untruth; it's one side of a complex story, and Ryan makes it clear that the Alcotts were creative, loyal, and genuinely affectionate. Graham's rather misty, generalized paintings reflect the sunnier side and--while pretty- -don't do justice to Alcott's and Ryan's honesty. Attractive, enlightening, carefully wrought. Chronology; sources; index. (Biography. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bridgewater Books
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 081673139X
• ISBN 13: 9780816731398
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Graham Mark
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 42
• Editor: Ryan Cary