"The character of Anne Shirley, first appearing in Anne of Green Gables (1908), has become beloved around the world. She is a character for all seasons--romantic, imaginative, passionate, and sensitive, and therefore she is kind, loving, and creative at heart. She gains considerable knowledge over the years and, through that knowledge, becomes a teacher and a kind-hearted protector of others. As inescapable as the struggles and doubts of life can...

A brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy, considered by many to be mentally retarded, discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

With her father and brothers gone to serve in the Civil War and her mother sick, teenage Valor ignores what is proper behavior for a girl and fights to defend her North Carolina mountain farm.