Pollyanna (by Eleanor H. Porter)

But disruption is only the beginning of what Pollyanna will do to her life. For Pollyanna's father had given her a gift years before, a lever with which to move the world. It's called the Glad Game, and with it Pollyanna proceeds to turn the entire town upside down.

That POLLYANNA has fallen out of favor says more about our cynical times than it does about the book. Pollyanna was first published (to instant acclaim and success) in the year leading up to WWI, and its kindly philosophy is as relevant today as it was then. There's a reason it has stayed steadily in print for nearly a century, and has been translated into many languages and adapted for film, TV and stage in many countries.

It certainly is a tearjerker, as are many of the greatest works of children's literature. Though its heroine's name has unfairly become a byword for phony optimism, Pollyanna is, in fact, a courageous and resourceful girl whose positive outlook is determined, conscious, and hard-won, and ultimately transformative, both for the characters in the book and for its readers. As with many classics, it's best read aloud to experienced listeners who have not yet entered adolescence.