Customer Reviews

The Story Girl

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It's no wonder that the lady who has gifted us with the Anne of Green Gables series created a character referred to as The Story Girl, one who could transport her audience to a far-away, magical place through the gift of storytelling.

As a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables, discovering that The Story Girl was Lucy Maude Montgomery's personal favorite of the works she had written, I anxiously began The Story Girl. It is the charming story of Sara Stanley, the Story Girl, who lives in Carlisle, with her cousins and the hired boy Peter. Told from the perspective of Beverly King, who has moved to Carlisle with his pudgy brother Felix, while their widowed father is working in a foreign land, Beverly and Felix become enchanted with their new life, hanging out with The Story Girl, beautiful cousin Felicity, sweet, endearing cousin Cecily, practical cousin Dan, and the hired boy Peter.

Though Peter is not family, his hard-working, considerate, loyal personality make the rest of the cousins slowly
but surely come to accept him as part of the group. One can't help but wonder if L.M. Montgomery IS the real life Story Girl, one who is well known in Carlisle for being the most magnificent storyteller around. Her magical gift of telling stories captivates her audience, both adults and children. Her stories combined with all sorts of amusing antics the children get into compromise the heart of this novel. The kids will have you in stitches, as they come up with a contest to see who can deliver the best preacher's sermon and the lengths they will go to for coming up with schemes to see who can have the best, most vivid dreams. As always, Montgomery is able to deliver a timeless classic that is wholesome, yet just as powerfully moving
and entertaining nearly a century later. It is written that Montgomery was quite sad to say goodbye to these characters as she completed the last page, and it is no wonder that the reader is left feeling quite the same way. Fortunately, the stories go on in the sequel, The Golden Road.

I discovered Montogomery seen years ago, when I was nine, when I begged my mother to buy me the entire "Anne" series. I own every one of Montgomery's books (except for "Pat of Silver Bush", lost at my friend's house); they occupy a special shelf. While I love all of them, a few I have read again and again. Almost every year I find my way "The Story Girl" and "The Golden Road", getting a prickly, wistful feeling that tells me to read them. I could identify with the characters because they were my age, and although I am a bit older now I don't think that I will stop reading them. Sarah Stanley and Bev were always my favorites, but I loved Cecily because she was so sweet, and Peter because he tried so hard. The few "Avolea" shows that I have seen were good, but changed too much from what Montgomery wrote. Other good books from P.E.I.: "The Blue Castle": I love this story because Valancy defies all conventions and creates a wonderful life for herself. I love the descriptions of the Canadian forests and lakes and the evolution of her relationship with Barney. "Jane of Lantern Hill": Also a good movie, this story is very modern in that it deals with separated parents. It is filled with the sweetness that pervades all of her books. "Emily of New Moon": I like her better than Anne, she's quiet and mysterious, feline and shadowy. The triad of books evolves her character realisticly, especially her friendships with Perry and Ilse and Teddy.

I love this book and I always have. English is not my native language, I got to know "The Story Girl" in translation - and a good one, too - but I have always longed to read it in English and to find out how Maud herself wrote it. The book is amazing, written from a perspective of an adult, it gives an account of childhood. When I read "The Story Girl" I always get the feeling I'm in someone's memories - slightly blurred and in gold coulours. I love the book and I wholeheartedly recommend it - have you known it was Maud's favourite? The edition isn't beautiful, but it's cheap, and for some people, me included, that matters.

Like most Lucy Maud Montgomery stories, The Story Girl is about what life is really like, only slightly sweeter and more magical. She captures childhood in all of its intricacies and makes the reader care for the characters like they're her own childhood friends. You may not close this book having learned anything new about life or having developed any new ideas, but you will close it having made new memories that will feel as dear as your own.

I love this book! I love all of montgomery's books and this is one of the best! After this review i'm going to read "The Golden Road" the sequel to "the Story Girl" and i just can't wait! I just wonder what going ot happen to fat Felix, timid Cecily, Snobby Felicity, Skeptical Dan, nice Sara Ray, Beverly, and The Wonderful Story Girl!

This book was excellent. I read it for the first time when I was ten, and was enchanted by all the characters. This book was so charming, and about the sweet, innocent adventures that kids experience over a summer. The story is so very realistic and easy to relate to. This is a timeless story that anyone should take the time to read. This will be a book that will stay with you a long time!

I think it's terrible that this book is out of print. I never heard about this book till I came across it in a bookshop on my holiday in Cork, and I noticed it was by the same author as Anne of Green Gables. I asked my mother to buy it but she didn't, saying she would get it in Dublin. However when we went home it wasn't in any of the bookshops. A few months later I read The Golden Road, which for some reason is more widely available. I cried at the end of that book. Aboout a year after I first saw the book I finally bought it. It was worth the wait. It is so enchanting, I wish I could have been Sara, I really do. I think it's a shame it's never to be found anywhere.

The Story Girl is one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's best ones! The stories are basic, yet told in an engaging way. This book is one all should read! Sara has a very active imagination, just like Anne in Anne of Green Gables! LMM is my favourite author, who sparked my imagination!

When I read The Story Girl I could really see the characters moving and talking right in front of me. In a biography about L.M. Montgomery it said that The Story Girl was LMM's favorite book of her own. If you like this story you will also like The Golden Road a sequel to The Story Girl. Jessica -- age 9.

This enchanting story of Sara Stanley, The Story Girl, is a delight to read and always full of life. It tells the adventures of Sara and her cousins; Beverley, Felix, Dan, Felicity, Cecily and their shy, timid friend, Sara Ray. It is one of the best books that I have ever read and am ever likely to read. I recommend it to anybody who is captured in the enchantment of L.M Montgomery - Lauren, aged 13