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Για μένα , δεν έχουν πια πολλά να πουν ( )

In this sequel to Pollyanna, the young orphan makes a visit to Boston that is full of unpleasant surprises. But even the hardest of times are not enough to permanently disrupt the cheerful outlook of the Glad Girl.

Remember how bad Miss Billy Married was? So actually I didn’t read the famous one, Pollyanna, in 2014 for my round up of 1914, just this sequel. Polyanna is an inspirational little orphan girl who has been cured of some kind of disability, and has been sent to cheer up a bitter old rich lady. Polyanna is continually playing “the Glad Game,” where no matter what kind of horrible thing has just happened, she will find something to be grateful for. This drives everyone totally bonkers, obviously, but eventually they all swallow the Kool Aid and become incredibly cheerful in the face of life’s adversity. Polyanna is mono-maniacally focused on her Game, so that she comes across as a bit unhinged. A sign of trauma?

Polyanna finds an orphan boy with a disability for the bitter old rich lady to adopt. The lady thinks he might be her missing nephew but she can’t be sure; however, she decides she loves him either way.

Then we fast forward ten or twelve years and our author is presented with a problem. It’s cute (maybe) to have a child constantly playing the Glad Game, but in an adult it would be insufferable. Eleanor Porter actually does a pretty good job of turning Polyanna into a semi-normal human being, considering the situation Porter had created for herself.

Now the book gets a little bit fun, as a few love triangles develop, with many comical misunderstandings about who’s in love with whom, à la Three’s Company. There’s a part that’s really bizarre where Polyanna is almost gored by a wild boar (I think I’ve got this right.) But the one who really suffers from this mishap is the orphan boy with the disability, now also all grown up, because he was unable to rescue her, and he makes a big production out of it. Like many children’s book authors of this era, Porter really has a bee in her bonnet about disability. In the end, everything is sorted out—the orphans all come into their rightful inheritance and everyone is paired off with the right person.
( )

The first half of this book is a repeat of the plot of the first book, only set in the city and with new people. Thankfully it was still charming and sweet and not so repetitive that I didn't enjoy it. The second half was just okay. I found the way Aunt Polly regressed so irritating. On top of that the romantic misunderstandings were way too over the top and a bit cringe worthy, even if the end couplings were satisfying. I feel like we could have had that ending but through a more satisfying set of events if only Porter had thought of it. ( )

And she actually does, a bit. Not like the 5 Little Peppers who all stayed 10. ( )