Some books stand the test of time. They call to you from the shelves. They last through every book purge, finding their way back to your nightstand for yet another read. Many of us have a favorite story. This is mine:
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
This book has been with me since third grade. I've read it so many times I can't count. I have often read A Little Princess twice in a year and watched various iterations of it in movie form. I love this story because it's about a young dreamer who refuses to lose her positivity even in the face of tragedy. She holds her head high and persists in knowing her worth.
Haven't read this? Spoilers ahead.
It is precisely because of Sara, the main character's, insistence on believing there is good in this world that her story has a happy ending. Her kindness is noticed by a neighbor who reaches out to her, and the discovery of her father alive if not well comes next.
Sara suffers abuse as the hands of her caretaker. She is bullied by her peers. She goes from wealthy to beggar overnight. She must learn a new way of life, but she does so with grace and even gratitude, sharing her crumbs with the rat family in her wall even when she is starving.
Despite every effort on her caretaker's part to break her, Sara is resilient. She turns to stories to keep herself sane. She refuses to respond to other characters who try to rile her. She stays above it all even as she is grieving the presumed loss of her father and life as she knows it.
It's a lovely read, an even better read-aloud because, like The Secret Garden by the same author, it is packed with positive morals. I read this book snuggled under blankets with a wish in my pocket. I cry, I laugh and I love. Every time.