Daddy-Long-Legs

Jerusha Abbott is the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. Every day she helps scrub and dress the younger children-all 97 of them. Soon she will graduate from high school and be on her own. Where will she go, and how will she support herself? When an anonymous wealthy donor decides to send her to college, Jerusha can hardly believe her good fortune. All she must do in return is send him a letter once a month. With all the excitement of college life-classes, parties, new friends, and a special gentleman-Jerusha can hardly stop writing! Jean Webster's entertaining tale of a high-spirited orphan girl coming-of-age in the early 1900s has been made into a play, several movies, and a musical comedy. Kate Forbes' fresh portrayal of Jerusha will win the hearts of a new generation of readers.

Jerusha "Judy" Abbott's life is drastically changed one day when a mysterious and rich benefactor scoops her up from an orphanage-the only home she has ever known-and offers to pay her way through college. Her benefactor has many requests, the two most important being that she uses this opportunity to become a writer, and that she writes him monthly to update him on her studies. To maintain his air of mystery, he never responds, and requests that Judy only refer to him as Mr. John Smith. Unhappy about this indifferent title, Judy decides to refer to him as Daddy-Long-Legs due to her only knowing that he is quite tall. Chronicling her four years of college, many friendships, embarrassing stories, and quite-funny musings, Judy finds more than an education in her correspondence with Daddy-Long-Legs.

The sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs finds Judy Abbott's best friend Sallie McBride taking total control over the John Grier Home, the orphanage where Judy grew up. Chronicling her hilarious yet heart-felt day-to-day interactions with the permanent residents of the John Grier Home, Sallie spills her heart out in letter after letter to multiple recipients, including the doctor of the JGH-one Robin MacRae, whom she has deemed her enemy and refers to him as such in her letters. Sallie, while often out of her element, comes to love the children and works diligently to ensure that they are safe, well-behaved, and offered the best opportunities possible. Despite unavoidable misfortune, she perseveres and even finds love.