anne

I recently read an article in Newsweek about how the book Anne of Green Gables is turning 100 years old this year. That's incredible for a book about a spunky redheaded orphan who has a talent for getting into trouble.

Have you read this book and the seven that come after it? If not, you really need to. I received the first three books in the series for Christmas one year, and I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled. My mom told me how much she had liked reading them when she was younger, but the books were one of those gifts that you just "grow into."

Boy am I glad that I grew into them. These books are laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes sad, but most of all, real. I love Anne's character. She is a real girl, someone that boys and girls can identify with. The situations she gets herself into are hilarious, but never over the top. She can be mean, like everyone, and she can be kind, too. I love that she changes throughout the books and does truly become a woman, not just another character that the author has tried to grow up too quickly.

While I'm not so hard-core that I'm about to buy a red yarn wig and dress up in pinafores and bonnets, I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for the character in the books that I never seem to get tired. Happy 100th, Anne. A character like you is bound to last a century.