Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

By Al R. Young

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott's chronicles of the four March sisters, is sometimes joined into one large tome, or divided into the two original books: Little Women and Good Wives. The wonderful sense of period and the magic of simple pleasures is woven into the story of a family impoverished as a result of their father's absence during the Civil War. The joys they find in a loving and creative family life, as well as the individual growth each experiences through small trials and large, comprises one of the major pieces of American juvenile literature.

The interesting plot, and especially the memorable characters, have kept this book a perennial favorite, in spite of its periodic sermonizing. Some even find the moralizing interesting, not only as an authentic spirit of its times, but also refreshing in a world bent on erasing boundaries.