The fact that I can quote "persuasive influences are better than any amount of moralizing" from, possibly, the most preachy book I've ever read is oh so amusing. Thank you Louisa for the laugh.An Old-Fashioned Girl had probably good intentions, but fell flat when it came to their actualisation. If while reading Little Women I could turn a blind eye on the sermons popping out every chapter thanks to the lively and variegated ensemble of characters, here I really couldn't. Everything revolves arou...

Do you ever feel like you are tied up in our times? Worrying too much about cell phones, fashions, and the latest whatevers? This book can set you straight. It gives you a peace of mind and fills you with simple pleasures. The stories main character, Polly, we meet at the age of 14. She has come to stay with rich friends for a while. THey do everything so differently from she. The family has two daughters. One that is two years older than Polly called Fan, who cares for fashion, balls, and beaus...

This book, An Old-Fashioned Girl, by my favorite author, Louisa May Alcott, is another one of my favorite books. It shows that even though one may know that following the status quo is not the right thing to do, and that one must act differently to be a good person, how very hard that is to do! The main character, Polly Milton, experiences this when she sees her very fashionable friends. Polly learns that one must be true to oneself, and with love, common sense, and a good conscience, this burde...

This book left me with such a happy feeling as a kid and I know I would still love this book when I read it again. It's like watching "The Sound of Music", you want to find comfort in it when the world dissapoints you, because you will be reminded that no matter what, being sincere and true to yourself will pay (and surely will get the boy/ the man you fall for!). Of course when you went to high school, you might learn another thing, that inner beauty didn't always prevail, thanks to the boys' h...

I'm one of the biggest fans of Louisa May Alcott after reading her Little Women when I was in high school. It was an amazing book that every girls and boys would love and cherish until end and it was one of the greatest classics that I read since I started reading. This time, Louisa May Alcott turned the old pages of this book into a magnificent old-fashioned story. Real and fluent in a way that every reader will appreciate the old ways and life of Polly Milton.Me, myself is an old-fashioned. I...

This will forever be one of my favorite books (tying with The Scarlet Pimpernel). I love and relate to Polly so, so much and I think her plight of having to remain secure in who she is, is something girls of today can still relate to. None of the characters are perfect, but their interactions and desire to be better makes the book very compelling as it follows Polly's visits to her (very different) friend, Fanny's, house. It's similar to some of Alcott's other works because of the strong life le...

Loved it. Loved the complexity of the women in this book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CN3w...Description: Tells the story of Polly, the old-fashioned girl, her friendship with the wealthy Shaws of Boston and the lessons she learns about happiness and riches.

Polly Milton is a fourteen-year-old country girl raised on old-fashioned values and invited to Boston for an extended stay with her friend, Fanny Shaw. Quite the unlikely friendship since Fanny, despite being only two years older, is no longer just a girl, not poor, and not old-fashioned. Little does Polly know the breakers which lie ahead: flounces and frizzles and the height of fashion, girls who consider flirtation the true purpose of schooling, and one particularly beastly red-headed boy who...

RATING: 3 STARSPolly is invited to stay with wealthy friends in Boston and finds herself to be an old-fashioned country girl. She is not worldly about parties, boys or acting like she has money. She would prefer to help her elders, read books and spend her time with hobbies. Polly seems to be helping each of the Shaws more than receiving their patronage. I LOVE Little Women so was excited to read another book by Alcott but I found this one to lack the heart and story of Little Women. An Old-Fash...

I could never quite stomach Little Women, as a child or adult, but An Old-Fashioned Girl has all the positives of LW with less sentimentality, a proper romance with the right person, and social commentary I found much more powerful and direct than LW's. I loved it when I was young, reread it many times, and loved reading it to the girls.Then when I was doing my second-time round studying, and we read Portrait of a Lady, I had a Moment of profound significance. Okay, neither profound nor really s...

I ended up enjoying this more than I expected to at the beginning, but it didn't make me care as much as Little Women. I think it's because a child was teaching children and adults to be better people, rather than an adult with life experience. It took longer for me to see the characters as individuals rather than caricatures. I was rooting for characters at the end, though, so I did care more than I thought.

Cute story but I did not enjoy it as much as Little Women.

I love this book. I've read it once before, several years ago, but I didn't remember much of it and it was fun to go through it again - especially now that I appreciate all the lessons tucked into "Old Fashioned Girl". Polly Milton rather reminded me of Pollyanna in a way - she comes to the city to visit her best friend Fanny Shaw and brings the sunshine with her to a rich but struggling household. She is a blessing to those around her, and her old-fashioned ways turn out to be the best as Polly...

I confess I've only read Part One a few times, but I must have read Part Two at least a dozen. I'm not sure I can quite explain why a piece of juvenile fiction that suffers from no pretensions of being a great work of art is one of my absolute favorite books, but it is. There is something beautiful to me about the simplicity of the characters, the straightforward and unapologetic morality, and the everyday historical tidbits sprinkled through this book.

I read 'Little Women' a long time ago and loved that book. Ok, I was much younger then. However, I cannot help but being disappointed by 'An Old-Fahsioned Girl'. The story is very sweet but marred by the narrator's preachy comments. They intrude on the story so much.I could not help smiling at times at some of them. 'Plus ca change'! Blaming the youth for their apparent lack of purpose and superficiality etc. Glad to know that our well meaning set have been at it for more than a century now. :PL...

Holy sermonizing, Batman! This isn't just an old-fashioned story, it's an old-fashioned way to tell a story -- heavy-handed preachiness in which dear little Polly, daughter of a poor minister, inspires morality among wealthy Bostonians, pleases her elders with her goodness and simplicity, and spreads joy to everyone in her path. As subtle as a tornado.If you can get past the preaching, the story has its charms. It shares some sweet elements with Little Women -- a spirited American girl grows up

Update 2019: I love it even more.——————————2018I went into this book knowing it would be good, and needing “a little old-fashioned,” (to shamelessly quote Phil Coulson), but I had no idea that it would take me on such a roller-coaster of emotions. I experienced just about every feeling under the sun while reading An Old-Fashioned Girl... and that's the true magic of storytelling. Polly"I don’t want a religion that I put away with my Sunday clothes, and don’t take out till the day comes round aga...

This is now my favorite Louisa May book. I can't believe it has taken me this long to read it. This book is full of goodness, truth, and beauty. I love it.Miss Mills to Polly:“Then, my dear, can't you bear a little ridicule for the sake of a good cause? You said yesterday that you were going to make it a principle of your life, to help up your sex as far and as fast as you could. It did my heart good to hear you say it, for I was sure that in time you would keep your word. But, Polly, a principl...

This is one of Louisa May Alcott's lesser known novels, but it is a good one ... in my opinion it's one of her best. I read it back when I was thirteen and I think it really shaped my adolescence. I kind of embraced being old fashioned because of this book. Polly is so thrifty and I loved the idea of being creative and saving money, especially as a poor teenager. It's a good book ... especially for younger girls, or older ones that like remembering simpler times.