Pollyanna: A Retelling for Curious Readers

A look inside

The opening of Pollyanna: A Retelling for Curious Readers, free to read.

1. 

   Miss Polly Harrington lived alone in the biggest house on the hill in Beldingsville. She was rich, proper, and rarely smiled. One June day a letter came. Her sister Jennie had died long ago, and now Jennie’s husband, a poor minister out West, had died too. Their daughter was all alone. “I shall do my duty,” said Miss Polly.

2. 

   Nancy, the maid, and Timothy, the gardener’s son, drove to the station. Off the train hopped a thin girl in a red-checked gingham dress, with two long yellow braids. She flung her arms around Nancy. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re Aunt Polly!” “I’m only Nancy.” “Well, I’m glad of that too! I’m Pollyanna, named for both my aunts, Polly and Anna.”

3. 

   Aunt Polly greeted her coolly and asked her not to talk about her father. Then she led her up to a bare attic room with no pictures and no mirror. Pollyanna’s chin trembled. But then she ran to the window and saw green hills. “Why, I don’t need pictures with that to look at!” she cried. “And with no mirror, I can’t see my freckles!”