Pollyanna Haters Gather Here

[formergothardite]

Wasn't it cool how they were just average kids solving mysteries that could really happen? :D And that secret junkyard hideout, so awesome lol

And the chauffer that drove them around. :lol:

I liked the Elizabeth Gale books too. Anyone read Grace Livingston Hill books? The women were always perfect.

[lemonhead]

. Anyone read Grace Livingston Hill books? The women were always perfect.

I thought Grace Livingston Hill wrote those Amish romance novels--AKA "bonnet rippers" :lol: --but Google tells me otherwise. I think I may have read a couple of her novels around the time my mother bought all the McGuffey Readers (some of the families in our church were actually using those for homeschool curriculum). Ah, this brings back lots of memories.

[formergothardite]

Grace Livingston Hill wrote the romance novels where all the women were perfect, beautiful and usually suddenly plunged into poverty. But have no fear! They never complained and they could make their little houses look amazing using scraps they found. Then a rich dashing young man came and married them. That is really the plot of all her books.

[crazyforkate]

Re: Lurlene McDaniel - when I was in middle school these books were like literary crack to me, and I had several friends who felt the same way. Judging how well-stocked all the libraries and book stores were with them, that seems to be a pretty good indicator of their appeal. A lot of tweens go for two things - romance and tragedy, and these books had them in the most melodramatic of fashions. And tbh, even though they're supposed to be "inspirational" I didn't really pick up on that at the time. Going through them later, it still doesn't seem too propaganda-ish - just more like she's writing from a context she understands. People go to church and occasionally express conservative views (such as being pro-life), but there's not really a message of "YOU SHOULD BE THIS WAY TOO." Not that there isn't plenty to snark, though.

Here's a blog that makes fun of some of the books, for anyone who remembers them:

yalitanddeath.blogspot.ca/