Daddy Long Legs: And, Dear Enemy

One of the great novels of American girlhood, Jean Websteras Daddy-Long-Legs (1912) follows the adventures of an orphan named Judy Abbott, whose letters to her anonymous male benefactor trace her development as an independent thinker and writer. Its sequel, Dear Enemy (1915), also told in letters, follows the progress of Judyas former orphanage now run by her friend Sallie McBride, who struggles to give her young charges hope and a new life. Full of irrepressible female characters that both recall Alcottas Jo March and anticipate the popular heroines of contemporary literature, Websteras novels are witty, heartfelt, and delightfully modern.