Module 2: Little Women

Book Summary:
This book covers several years of the lives of the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Throughout the course of the book, the sisters show kindness and love to people around them, and try to overcome some of their problems.
In one of the more heart-wrenching scenes, Amy burns Jo’s book after being left behind when Jo chooses to go out without Amy. Shortly after, Amy falls through the ice when ice skating, and is barely rescued by Jo and Laurie. From this the sisters learn not to take each other for granted. There were many times when the March girls were snubbed, such as when Amy’s booth got moved to a dark corner, and they learned that it was okay if they still treated people with respect even if they had not had the same treatment. When
their sister Beth dies, they have to grieve while still understanding that Beth was finally no longer in pain. By the end of the story, the three remaining sisters have all found happiness with loving husbands and families.

APA reference:

Alcott, L. M. (1960). Little Women. New York: Scholastic Book Services.(Original work published 1868)

My Impressions:

This book was a joy to read. While the girls have some hard
times, they get through it all quite well, and grow stronger from it. The
book contains many examples of how the girls managed to handle bad situations
with grace. I think the book had many moral lessons in it that are still very
much applicable today. Things such as treating others as you would like to be
treated, being kind to those less fortunate, and forgiveness will never be
outdated. Alcott is a master of character development as well, and really
helps the reader to become attached to the characters and understand why they
do the things they do.
One of the things I particularly enjoyed about this book is
about the way it flows through time. It covers several years, and it seems to
move at just the right pace. One flaw that many books have is when time seems
to move very slowly at first, and then suddenly jumps into the future with
little or no explanation. That did not happen in this book; it seemed to flow
at the perfect pace. I also enjoyed
the strong emphasis on the value of family life and friendship; it showed
that with the strength of the family together it is possible to pull through
even the most difficult times.
Overall, this book is a timeless classic that was a delightful book to read.

Professional Review:

Little Women (or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy) is a novel by American
author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Written and set in the Alcott family
home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two parts
in 1868 and 1869. The novel follows the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth,
and Amy March—and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with
her three sisters. The first part of the book was an immediate commercial and
critical success, prompting the composition of the book's second part titled
Good Wives, also a huge success. Both parts were first published as a single
volume in 1880. Alcott followed Little Women with two sequels reprising the
March sisters, Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Little Women has been
adapted to play, musical, opera, film, and animated feature.

[Review of the book Little Women by
L. M. Alcott]. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/LOUISA-MAY-ALCOTT-ORIGINAL-ebook/dp/B003IHW0GE/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329005979&sr=1-8

Alcott's original work explores the overcoming of character flaws. Many of
the chapter titles in this first part are allusions to the allegorical
concepts and places in Pilgrim's Progress. When young, the girls played
Pilgrim's Progress by taking an imaginary journey through their home. As
young women, they agree to continue the figurative journey, using the "guidebooks"
— copies of the New Testament, described as "that beautiful old story of
the best life ever lived" (chapter 1, see also chapter 19) — they
receive on Christmas morning. Each of the March girls must struggle to
overcome a major character flaw: Meg, vanity; Jo, a hot temper; Beth,
shyness; and Amy, selfishness. The girls must work out these flaws in order
to live up to their mother and father's high expectations as mothers, wives,
sisters, and citizens.

In the course of the novel, the girls become friends with their next-door
neighbor, the teenage boy Laurie (whose given name is "Theodore"),
who becomes a particular friend of Jo. In addition to the more serious themes
outlined above, the book describes the light hearted, often humorous activities
of the sisters and their friend, such as creating a newspaper and picnicking,
and the various scrapes that Jo and Laurie get into. The story represents
family relationships and explores family life thoroughly. It also reflects
issues of feminism, as Jo consistently struggles with the boundaries 19th
century society placed on females, including not being able to fight in a
war, not being able to attend college, and being pressured by her Aunt March
to find a suitable husband to take care of her.
(from Amazon.com)

Library Uses:

Since so many people have seen the movie based on this book,
perhaps the library could challenge adult readers to a “movie book”
challenge; to read the book and see what they think of how it compares to the
movie. Perhaps the library could create a display of books with their movies
and encourage readers to try them.


Another great use for this book would be to encourage parents to read it to their children. This book is an excellent family book, and even though it is older I think it still holds
the interest of young children. When emphasizing good books for the whole family, the library could include this book in the group.