Louisa May Alcott: Young Novelist

by Beatrice Gormley, Meryl Henderson (Illustrator)

Dear
The Childhood of Famous Americans series, sixty-five years old in 1997, chronicles the early years of famous American men and women in an accessible manner. Each book is faithful in spirit to the values and experiences that influenced the person's development. History is fleshed out with fictionalized details, and conversations have been added to make the stories come alive to today's reader, but every reasonable effort has been made to make the stories consistent with the events, ethics, and character of their subjects.
These books reaffirm the importance of our American heritage. We hope you learn to love the heroes and heroines who helped shape this great country. And by doing so, we hope you also develop a lasting love for the nation that gave them the opportunity to make their dreams come true. It will do the same for you.
Happy Reading!
The Editors

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 2008

About the author

Born in Glendale, California, Beatrice grew up in Southern California. After graduating from Pomona College, she worked in publishing near San Francisco. There she met and married Robert Gormley, and they moved to Massachusetts. They have two daughters.
Since age 9 Beatrice had wanted to become a writer. But it wasn't until after her children were born that she really focused on her writing. In 1981 her first book, Mail Order Wings,was published. Since then she's written many popular novels and biographies for young people. Her most recent books are Second Lives, a novel of humans and other animals, and the biography Joe Biden: Our 46th President.

Reviews

[Cindy aka "The Book Fairy" · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable background look so to speak at the Alcott family who her Little Women books was based upon.... they had a loving but rough upbringing with their father not being to provide well enough as they faced poverty quite often. He was a kind man but it seemed to be a dreamer with unrealistic ideas for earning an income.

[Stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

...there is just no way that anyone can even possibly began to make Bronson Alcott look good to me, lol. I do think it's concerning that it's mentioned here that his own 'secretaries' worshipped him... I've always felt that in reality, he was really a dead beat. And more sad to me, as a Christian, that while he seemed to enjoy teaching the values of the Bible and 'Pilgrim's Progress' to his daughters, at the end of the day didn't seem to believe in Christ for himself.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for kids to read about this amazing young novilest. In the book it talks a about Walden pond and Mr.Waldo Emerson's house. I have been to both places! I also got to go outside of Louisa may alocts house too!

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's ironic -- I read this book long before I would even touch Little Women -- which I was sure was too gooey and 'girly' for me. I thought Louisa May Alcott was terrific, though -- her family's lifestyle of principled poverty in the Transcendentalist movement was fascinating (and, sure enough, when I read 'Jo's Boys' and realized this was the same substance that she wrote about, I did (finally) go back and read Little Women too.)

[Amanda Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly didn’t expect to love this as much as I did. Reading this increased my interest in Louisa’s life. This makes me want to reread her novels, and to finally dip my toe into reading Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who were both influential friends of her and her family.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. It told the story of Louisa May Alcott in lots of detail. I tells a lot about her childhood, and all the books she wrote and published. This is a great biography!

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read aloud with Ben. So boring, we finally quit. They move a lot because her dad is crazy and unstable. That's the gist.

[Meredith Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

(with Ben & Mabry)

[Ryan Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly excellent book for adults or children.

[Ryan Hong · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. What is the biography mostly about? Louisa May Alcotts' life as a girl.
2. What is not a fact from the book? Alcott wrote Little Women at the age of 7.
3. What happened after the last girl took the last slice of birthday cake? Louisa went wild and disrespected the girl.
4. Why did Papa hire a new assistant? Because during dinner, Elizabeth Peabody spoke rudely about Papas' school.
5. What was different between Louy and her classmates? Her classmates were calm and Louy was wild.
6. Predict what happened if Louy was in the pond EVEN longer. She might drown and perish.
7. From the cover, you can tell that the word "novelist" means... a person that writes novels.
8. In the book, you can tell that Louy is... a troublemaker.
9. What is a personal opinion about Louy? She is the greatest novelist.
10. On page 11, the phrase "dotted with families" means that... It is filled with families.
11. What is the authors' purpose? To tell how great Louys' books are.
12. What can really happen? Louy writes another novel during her life days.

3/7/11:
1. What is the book mostly about? Louy's life as a teen an early adult.
2. What is not a fact from the book? Louys' books are the best.
3. What happened after Louy took the job for a few days? She decided to quit.
4. Why did the Alcott family grieve? Because Lizzie died.
5. What was the same between Lizzie and Louy? They got diseases.
6. Predict what will happen next in the chapter "Little Women?" She might write "Little Women."
7. On page 139, you could tell that the word "consulted" means.Called.
8. On page 135, you could tell that Lizzie was... Very ill.
9. What is a fact from the story? Louisa is a selfless women.
10. On page 138, the phrase" felt very blue" means that... felt bored/sad.
11. What is the authors' purpose? To entertain readers with how a troublesome girl became a fantastic writer.
12. What could not happen? Everyone survives scarlet fever.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Louisa Alcott. She lived in Boston with her parents and her two sisters name Lizzie and Anna. Their father was a teacher and one day he lost his job. So the family of four became poor and had to move to Concord a city in Massachusetts. They had to make money by making clothes and doing things they never would have thought of doing. Louisa got older and by the time she was old enough to leave she wrote books and traveled to Europe to sell them and make money. She deserted her family for many years and regrets doing it because she lost everything she used to have. I liked this book because it shows how when people have bad childhoods they can't wait to get away. But what they don't realize is that they eventually lose what meant the most to them. I liked how the main character Louisa realized that she left her family behind and she never knew that the love her family gave her was what kept them together.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always in the children't section of the library and I love reading biographies so when I saw these books about Alcott and Adams, two women I'm interested in learning more about, I checked them out. They provide a good foundation of knowledge and then hopefully one day when I have more time for reading, I can branch out and read more in depth books about them and others.

[Julianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the author of "Louisa May Alcott" did a really great job describing all of the detailes about her life without being too wordy. Personally, I prefer fiction.

[Nevada Libert · Rating 5 out of 5]

loisa may alcott is ssssuuuucchhh a good book,i love learning about her she inspires me to be like her, i love how she never stopped writing even when her health was bad.

will read again.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. When she wrote "Little Women," she didn't think she'd like it. She wrote about more old books.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked it