Daddy-Long-Legs (Everyman's Library Children's Classics)

Rating:
Summary: strong female book
Review: Daddy-Long-Legs is an epistolary novel, written as a series of letters from Jerusha "Judy" Abbot to her anonymous benefactor, whom she calls Daddy-Long-Legs. A sixteen-year-old orphan earning her keep in the John Grier Foundling home, Jerusha has an active mind and pen. An anonymous benefactor sends her to college to become a writer, paying all her bills and providing a wardrobe and allowance, in exchange for monthly letters on her progress. Jerusha, having caught a glimpse of her extremely tall benefactor, begins addressing her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs. She tells him more than her academic progress in her chatty letters. She shares her insecurities about her social status, her crush on Jervis Pendleton, a floor mate's young uncle. She is outspoken and opinionated, never afraid to tell her "Daddy" about her political or moral views. She is a socialist, a suffragette, and a satirist. She lets him know when she is angry with him, and does not take his orders submissively. She questions everything.

The plot is very much based on a Cinderella tale-poor Judy Abbott, orphan, falls in love with the rich Jervis Pendleton. The set-up of the story is not entirely realistic, and the resolution of the love story plot is rushed at the end of the novel. Daddy-Long-Legs, who heretofore has only financed boys' education, decides to send Jerusha to college based on a funny essay criticizing the very orphanage of which he is trustee. Mrs. Lippet, head of the orphanage, tells Jerusha, "On the strength of that impertinent paper, he has offered to send you to college" (12). Based on Jerusha's observations of the dignity bordering on oppressiveness of the trustees, this decision seems to go against her characterization. The communication between Jerusha and her benefactor is strange-he does not want his identity to be revealed, and she cannot address him as "Mr. Smith." She immediately starts addressing her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs and often refers to him as simply "Daddy." He is obviously a father figure to Judy, which is disturbing when it is revealed that Daddy-Long-Legs is also her love-interest, Jervis Pendleton. After Daddy-Long-Legs' identity is revealed, Webster quickly ties up the novel in a few paragraphs, but never resolves the father-figure as love interest. Judy writes in her final letter concerning addressing her Daddy-Long-Legs as Jervis, "Just plain Jervie sounds disrespectful, and I can't be disrespectful to you!" (160).

The first person point-of-view of this novel allows the reader to get into the head of the main character, but limits characterization of others in the novel to Judy's impressions. She says of two of her classmates, "Sallie is the most entertaining person in the world-and Julia Rutledge Pendleton the least so. ...Sallie thinks everything is funny-even flunking-Julia is bored at everything. She never makes the slightest effort to be amiable. She believes that if you are a Pendleton, that fact alone admits you to heaven without any further examination. Julia and I were born to be enemies" (22). Despite the fact that Judy has such opinions of Julia, they become roommates, travel to New York City together, and Julia invites Judy to spend Christmas with her.
Through her attempts at friendship, Julia doesn't seem as bad as Judy writes. However, because the point-of-view is limited, Julia is an uninteresting snob.

Despite limitations, the voice and opinions revealed through the point of view seem authentic to the time and place of the novel. After learning her crush, Jervis, is a socialist, she decides to do some research on socialism. In her next letter to Daddy-Long-Legs, she writes, "Hooray! I'm a Fabian. That's a Socialist who's willing to wait. We don't want the social revolution to come tomorrow morning; it would be too upsetting" (119). The enthusiasm with which Judy embraces socialism, shopping, and Jervis Pendleton is typically adolescent. Her triumphs and failures expressed with enthusiasm or despair, and her letters reflect the vacillation of adolescent emotions.

Key adolescent experiences and problems include embarrassment concerning family background and the flush of first love. Judy is justifiably embarrassed by being an orphan and wary of sharing her background with her upper class schoolmates. Most teenagers experience a certain amount of family embarrassment. Of course, for most teenagers, being raised in an orphanage is not something that they are familiar with. Judy's infatuation with Jervis Pendleton is also typically adolescent-she loves him, but doesn't realize she loves him. She cannot stop writing about him, and thinks about him a lot. She doesn't realize she's in love until late in the novel. To the reader, Judy clearly has a crush. It is interesting to watch her deal with her crush as an observer, hoping she is brave enough to share her feelings, and knowing that she already has in her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs.

Rating:
Summary: A worth recommend book
Review: I can honestly say this is timeless. I grew up reading my mother's copy of this book, and I had read it several times before I noticed the copyright date. It was written nearly 90 years ago, but I never knew it. I think the thing that captured my attention was the fact that it's written in diary style. I felt like I *knew* Judy Abbott. She's a wonderful character, and you can't help but wonder what's going to happen next. And the ending...well, it'll just blow you away!

Rating:
Summary: A Reader from Maine
Review: I learned so much while reading Daddy-Long-Legs! One of the most satisfying aspects of the book was learning intimately and in depth about who Jerusha Abbott really was. After I finished the book, I had a feeling as if I knew a completely amazing woman. Some of the things that Jerusha says in her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs was inspiring and uplifting. I enjoyed the book immensely. It was a true page-turner for me. The ending alone is enough to want to read the book. I encourage it to everyone who likes a book written in the form of letters.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I've read this book a few times, and every time I come back to it, I can't put it down. It's short (around 200 pages) & sweet. The book was published in 1912, and is one-of-a-kind, as it consists almost entirely of letters written by Judy. Judy is an orphan from the John Grier Home, an orphange she was raised in since she was a baby. Her future seems very bleak until one day she is unexpectedly offered the opportunity for a paid college education to become an author by one of the orphanage's trustees. In return, she has to write monthly letters to the unknown trustee who is known as Mr. John Smith. She calls him "Daddy-Long-Legs" because she saw his tall shadow as he left the building. Her letters are very entertaining, and often impertinent. That is really all I want to tell of the story, but here are a couple of quotes from the book that I loved:

"It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh -- I really think that requires spirit."

"I think the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding. It ought to be cultivated in children."

Rating:
Summary: A Classic You Can Read in a Day
Review: I've read this book a few times, and every time I come back to it, I can't put it down. It's short (around 200 pages) & sweet. The book was published in 1912, and is one-of-a-kind, as it consists almost entirely of letters written by Judy. Judy is an orphan from the John Grier Home, an orphange she was raised in since she was a baby. Her future seems very bleak until one day she is unexpectedly offered the opportunity for a paid college education to become an author by one of the orphanage's trustees. In return, she has to write monthly letters to the unknown trustee who is known as Mr. John Smith. She calls him "Daddy-Long-Legs" because she saw his tall shadow as he left the building. Her letters are very entertaining, and often impertinent. That is really all I want to tell of the story, but here are a couple of quotes from the book that I loved:

"It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh -- I really think that requires spirit."

"I think the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding. It ought to be cultivated in children."

Rating:
Summary: A Cinderella Story of the Odd Variety
Review: Practical Jean Webster must not have believed in fey folk, however, as this novel's fairy-godmother is a man--and an orphan asylum trustee, of all things. (Readers find out exactly what that is by at least the third page and never forget it.) Nevertheless, he does bring the heroine closer to her dreams by sending to her to college for free. He's also mysterious and eccentric--a nice touch.

This heroine is Jerusha Abbot, who pluckily changes her name to Judy as soon as she enters college. Most of the novel is composed of her letters to the kind trustee, whom she has named Daddy-Long-Legs. Her observations on her roommates, friends, classes, teachers, and life in general are a delight to read and her style is light and funny. She remains as likeable today as she was when this book was first published in 1912.

Thankfully, the "modern" details that Webster sprinkled throughout the text will not get in the way of readers' enjoyment. When Judy confesses that she hadn't known that R.L.S. stood for Robert Louis Stevenson or that George Eliot was a lady--and almost laments that she "wasn't brought up on 'Little Women'"--readers don't mind that neither had they. It is the spirit of the words that comes through to them: they understand what is important--her embarrassment at the fact and her motivation to correct it--and that is enough.

As Webster considered herself a socialist and a reformer, one of the reasons she wrote "Daddy-Long-Legs" was definitely to show the more uppity folk of the early twentieth century that even children who are brought up in orphan asylums _can_ become useful, productive adults when they grow up.

Of course, the appeal of this children's novel has less to do with that message than with Judy's (and therefore, Webster's) sense of humor. I'm sure that children breeze through--and soon forget--Judy's little sermons about the need to cultivate imagination in children or the virtue of doing things out of love and not duty. (The passages about socialism are another story, however. Judy's socialist streak is one of the most fun--and one of the most important--elements in "Daddy-Long-Legs".)

On the other hand, children will love the more whimsical details. For example, during one lonely Christmas, Judy bought herself some presents; pretended that they came from her family in California; and proceeded to make up, name and characterize each hypothetical family member. Yes, this novel is great fun.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely, nostalgic novel
Review: This epistolary novel is an easy, quick read. Jerusha "Judy" Abbot comes to life in her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs, the anonymous benefactor who pays for her college education. (I particularly love the up-close look at women's higher education in the early 20th century--though the college is never stated, and is probably Vasser, I can imagine it is my own alma mater, Wells). Her hopes, fears, and frustrations are very real--from insecurity about being an orphan to her struggles with Latin. While some experiences and circumstances are dated, the emotions and life situations of Judy are timeless. Judy is an outspoken woman in a time when women didn't even have the right to vote; she is a socialist, a reformer, and an author. She is not perfect, but she is wonderful. This is a must read for any young woman!

Rating:
Summary: Daddy Long-Legs is a keeper and not be missed by anyone!
Review: This is a fantastic self-discovery story about an orphan girl who writes a series of oh-so truthful and simple but interesting letters to her anonymous guardian. The contents of these letters is where the reader gains insight into the the mind of a girl from the ages of 17 to 21. Oh and what a beautiful and engaging world it is!

This really is one of those "timeless classics" but not something that has to be forced upon someone to read as a class assignment but a book one reads for pure pleasure. The book is very dated and that's what makes it so ironically "timeless". Because just as there may be difference between her time and our contemporary time, there are just as many similarities. The biggest one being that reading about someone discovering themselves and falling in love is always enjoyable and captivating when written this simply that it's profound.

Even though I have put this book down, my mind has not. That is the effect of this simply beautiful and easy to read book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This is one of those books I read when I was a teenager and have read over and over again since. A fun, short read and one that gives insight into women's lives both in the past and today. One of the better books I have read that use the format of letter-writing to narrate a story too.