Anne is an orphan girl who found for herself a home in Green Gables and in the hearts of the people of Avonlea.  For a girl who has lived most of her young life in an orphanage, she considers Avonlea a paradise and a haven for her unbridled thoughts.  Though thin and frail, she has got a big mouth and a sharp wit that compensated for a childhood characterized by desertion, poverty and the unmet need to identify with a family of her own.  Always kept company by her unfettered imaginations inspired by her charming sentimentality, she manages to survive the difficulties that she had to face.  

      Life in an orphanage is definitely unlike the life she spent in paradise where through sheer accidental circumstances, she meets Matthew Cuthbert and Marilla Cuthbert.  Matthew knew she was for keeps, but it took time for Anne to capture Marilla's heart.  Having a temper as hot as her red hair, she makes enemies, and some friends, but she will only admit to have Diana Barry as her one and only bosom friend.  Like a love story written in the stars, a bully falls in love with her.  Gilbert Blythe tries to catch Anne's attention by unconventional means which only incited the latter's wrath.  But it was so that love springs from the rivalry between the two most promising students of Avonlea.  A blossoming love between Anne and Gilbert Blythe presents itself to Anne a puzzle which she will figure out in the next books written by L.M. Montgomery if only to gratify readers who wanted more from the love birds.  As the story progresses,  a healing process of a once dreary childhood takes place, allowing her to live a normal life and to anticipate for herself a future where her most cherished dreams are found waiting for her.   

      All in all, Anne of Green Gables tells the story of childhood, told in the context of what it means to a child.  It is candid enough to present the harsh realities that confront childhood but offers hope by depicting its many joys.  If adults became aware of what the little ones dream about, perhaps they will learn more about their own aspirations, and together, they will carve a world that will be a better place for the young and old alike.

Ruth loves Anne of Green Gables.  She is dedicating this story to all the kindred spirits out there, as well as bosom friends who still believe that childhood is forever. :)