Customer Reviews

Daddy-Long-Legs

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- Good packing
- Nice design
- Good for education, I bought it for an adult but his son is in grad 2 was the one who enjoyed reading it first.
- Great gift for a grad 3 kid or more

This is one of those books I read when I was a teenager and have read over and over again since. A fun, short read and one that gives insight into women's lives both in the past and today. One of the better books I have read that use the format of letter-writing to narrate a story too.

I've read this book a few times, and every time I come back to it, I can't put it down. It's short (around 200 pages) & sweet. The book was published in 1912, and is one-of-a-kind, as it consists almost entirely of letters written by Judy. Judy is an orphan from the John Grier Home, an orphange she was raised in since she was a baby. Her future seems very bleak until one day she is unexpectedly offered the opportunity for a paid college education to become an author by one of the orphanage's trustees. In return, she has to write monthly letters to the unknown trustee who is known as Mr. John Smith. She calls him "Daddy-Long-Legs" because she saw his tall shadow as he left the building. Her letters are very entertaining, and often impertinent. That is really all I want to tell of the story, but here are a couple of quotes from the book that I loved:

"It isn't the big troubles in life that require character. Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh -- I really think that requires spirit."

"I think the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind and sympathetic and understanding. It ought to be cultivated in children."

If any girl (5th grade and up) wants to read a book about a strong female lead, this is IT! Judy gets to go to college by an anonymous donor. She just has to write him a letter a month. No strings. See how Judy handles differences and the world around her. She is spunky! Great book for an independent read. I plan to use it in my classroom.

Daddy-Long-Legs is an epistolary novel, written as a series of letters from Jerusha "Judy" Abbot to her anonymous benefactor, whom she calls Daddy-Long-Legs. A sixteen-year-old orphan earning her keep in the John Grier Foundling home, Jerusha has an active mind and pen. An anonymous benefactor sends her to college to become a writer, paying all her bills and providing a wardrobe and allowance, in exchange for monthly letters on her progress. Jerusha, having caught a glimpse of her extremely tall benefactor, begins addressing her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs. She tells him more than her academic progress in her chatty letters. She shares her insecurities about her social status, her crush on Jervis Pendleton, a floor mate's young uncle. She is outspoken and opinionated, never afraid to tell her "Daddy" about her political or moral views. She is a socialist, a suffragette, and a satirist. She lets him know when she is angry with him, and does not take his orders submissively. She questions everything.

The plot is very much based on a Cinderella tale-poor Judy Abbott, orphan, falls in love with the rich Jervis Pendleton. The set-up of the story is not entirely realistic, and the resolution of the love story plot is rushed at the end of the novel. Daddy-Long-Legs, who heretofore has only financed boys' education, decides to send Jerusha to college based on a funny essay criticizing the very orphanage of which he is trustee. Mrs. Lippet, head of the orphanage, tells Jerusha, "On the strength of that impertinent paper, he has offered to send you to college" (12). Based on Jerusha's observations of the dignity bordering on oppressiveness of the trustees, this decision seems to go against her characterization. The communication between Jerusha and her benefactor is strange-he does not want his identity to be revealed, and she cannot address him as "Mr. Smith." She immediately starts addressing her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs and often refers to him as simply "Daddy." He is obviously a father figure to Judy, which is disturbing when it is revealed that Daddy-Long-Legs is also her love-interest, Jervis Pendleton. After Daddy-Long-Legs' identity is revealed, Webster quickly ties up the novel in a few paragraphs, but never resolves the father-figure as love interest. Judy writes in her final letter concerning addressing her Daddy-Long-Legs as Jervis, "Just plain Jervie sounds disrespectful, and I can't be disrespectful to you!" (160).

The first person point-of-view of this novel allows the reader to get into the head of the main character, but limits characterization of others in the novel to Judy's impressions. She says of two of her classmates, "Sallie is the most entertaining person in the world-and Julia Rutledge Pendleton the least so. ...Sallie thinks everything is funny-even flunking-Julia is bored at everything. She never makes the slightest effort to be amiable. She believes that if you are a Pendleton, that fact alone admits you to heaven without any further examination. Julia and I were born to be enemies" (22). Despite the fact that Judy has such opinions of Julia, they become roommates, travel to New York City together, and Julia invites Judy to spend Christmas with her.
Through her attempts at friendship, Julia doesn't seem as bad as Judy writes. However, because the point-of-view is limited, Julia is an uninteresting snob.

Despite limitations, the voice and opinions revealed through the point of view seem authentic to the time and place of the novel. After learning her crush, Jervis, is a socialist, she decides to do some research on socialism. In her next letter to Daddy-Long-Legs, she writes, "Hooray! I'm a Fabian. That's a Socialist who's willing to wait. We don't want the social revolution to come tomorrow morning; it would be too upsetting" (119). The enthusiasm with which Judy embraces socialism, shopping, and Jervis Pendleton is typically adolescent. Her triumphs and failures expressed with enthusiasm or despair, and her letters reflect the vacillation of adolescent emotions.

Key adolescent experiences and problems include embarrassment concerning family background and the flush of first love. Judy is justifiably embarrassed by being an orphan and wary of sharing her background with her upper class schoolmates. Most teenagers experience a certain amount of family embarrassment. Of course, for most teenagers, being raised in an orphanage is not something that they are familiar with. Judy's infatuation with Jervis Pendleton is also typically adolescent-she loves him, but doesn't realize she loves him. She cannot stop writing about him, and thinks about him a lot. She doesn't realize she's in love until late in the novel. To the reader, Judy clearly has a crush. It is interesting to watch her deal with her crush as an observer, hoping she is brave enough to share her feelings, and knowing that she already has in her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs.

This epistolary novel is an easy, quick read. Jerusha "Judy" Abbot comes to life in her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs, the anonymous benefactor who pays for her college education. (I particularly love the up-close look at women's higher education in the early 20th century--though the college is never stated, and is probably Vasser, I can imagine it is my own alma mater, Wells). Her hopes, fears, and frustrations are very real--from insecurity about being an orphan to her struggles with Latin. While some experiences and circumstances are dated, the emotions and life situations of Judy are timeless. Judy is an outspoken woman in a time when women didn't even have the right to vote; she is a socialist, a reformer, and an author. She is not perfect, but she is wonderful. This is a must read for any young woman!

This is a fantastic self-discovery story about an orphan girl who writes a series of oh-so truthful and simple but interesting letters to her anonymous guardian. The contents of these letters is where the reader gains insight into the the mind of a girl from the ages of 17 to 21. Oh and what a beautiful and engaging world it is!

This really is one of those "timeless classics" but not something that has to be forced upon someone to read as a class assignment but a book one reads for pure pleasure. The book is very dated and that's what makes it so ironically "timeless". Because just as there may be difference between her time and our contemporary time, there are just as many similarities. The biggest one being that reading about someone discovering themselves and falling in love is always enjoyable and captivating when written this simply that it's profound.

Even though I have put this book down, my mind has not. That is the effect of this simply beautiful and easy to read book.

This book is about an oldest orphan called Jerusha Abbott. Because of her hard, an erratic gentleman has offered to send her to college. Jerusha need to send the men a letter each month and mention her school life in the letter. Of course her life has happiness and sorrow¡K
The book is written in letterform. I was wondered that Jerusha¡s thinking was so funny. The words used in this book are quite easy and suitable for everyone and its content is suitable for girls, there are some simple interesting pictures between lines. A worth recommend book.

I can honestly say this is timeless. I grew up reading my mother's copy of this book, and I had read it several times before I noticed the copyright date. It was written nearly 90 years ago, but I never knew it. I think the thing that captured my attention was the fact that it's written in diary style. I felt like I *knew* Judy Abbott. She's a wonderful character, and you can't help but wonder what's going to happen next. And the ending...well, it'll just blow you away!

I learned so much while reading Daddy-Long-Legs! One of the most satisfying aspects of the book was learning intimately and in depth about who Jerusha Abbott really was. After I finished the book, I had a feeling as if I knew a completely amazing woman. Some of the things that Jerusha says in her letters to Daddy-Long-Legs was inspiring and uplifting. I enjoyed the book immensely. It was a true page-turner for me. The ending alone is enough to want to read the book. I encourage it to everyone who likes a book written in the form of letters.