this book is a love letter to little girls with big imaginations

Loved it! I'm sad I never read this as a child. Sara reminded me at times of a younger Anne Shirley. It's so whimsical and perfectly dramatic for a little girl.

Loved! But I think I like The Secret Garden a smidge more, hence the reason it’s not quite five stars. Sara was just a little too perfect. Still, a sweet story, filled with atmosphere and a great headmistress villain and imagination worthy of Anne Shirley herself.

There's some totally bizarre 1800's racism and classism in this book. I love how the Indian man (the "Oriental") notices Sarah's suffering, comes up with a plan to help her (and tells his boss about it), and is the person who physically brings all of the rich objects over to her- but when Sarah realizes that these things are coming from her next door neighbor's household- it's his white, British boss who is given all the credit (although they do say something along the lines of "only an oriental could have come up with such a mysterious and fantastical idea!"). Ahh... the white man's burden.

I will also point out that while Sarah's plight is talked about as some sort of disaster, Becky- the other scullery maid is to be pitied for having such a cruel mistress, but Sarah's the one who deserves the magical room transformation (which- being upperclass, she shares with Becky... but still- two abused little girls living in two halves of an attic, and you only give the one who acts upper-class the fairytale? That's pretty messed up). Luckily, at the end, Sarah doesn't forget about her, and allows Becky to be her servant for the rest of her life.

"Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it."

Much can be said about the improbabilities in the plot, about the desperate sentimentality and caricature of Victorian England's boarding school system. It doesn't matter.

To me, Sarah Crewe will always remain a symbol for inner strength, perseverance and values winning over greed, sadism and abusive power. I can't recall how many times I read my hardcover copy as a young girl, shivering with anger and fear when the young heiress thinks she has lost everything and is turned into an unpaid maid at the school where she used to be a shining star.

Quite often, I think of her when I enter a bakery on a cold day, the smell of fresh bread making me instantly hungry. I think of the hungry girl, and how much she must have craved the buns she bought for a coin she found. And I know it is a simple show-effect on the part of Frances Hodgson Burnett to make Sarah hand over the buns to a starving girl sitting outside the bakery. It is not realistic! We are human beings. We a greedy, egotistical, trained and constructed to guarantee our own selfish survival first of all. We don't give away our bread. We hoard it until it gets moldy and can't be eaten by anyone!

And yet - Sarah Crewe, the fictional perfect human being, clever, kind, using her power to help, rather than to destroy others, makes my heart feel a tiny bit better each time I think of her. She is not realistic, and nor is the poetical justice in the novel, giving back the wealth she had thought she lost as some kind of divine reward for being a good sport when she lost it.

Does it really matter whether this story is exaggerated? If I can choose to give my children one of the countless bestselling young adult novels that show humanity in its worst egomania, or this tale of friendship, genuine care and power of imagination, I won't have to think twice. I like to imagine that people loving Sarah Crewe might start seeing those around themselves that are "hungrier than she was herself", and that they might feel that they can offer a bun or two from their bakery basket as a result of their reading. If reading inspires, I like to think this one inspires more than a dire account of teenage violence and crime...

Try being a princess no matter what - that's what I believe in, loving my fairy tales still!

The movie adaptation of this book was my beloved, childhood favourite, yet, for some reason, I had never read the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find how accurate my favourite film was to the classic text it originated from.

I find it odd how I adored this story so, when my favourite childhood read was Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. I loved the former for the pure-hearted and eternally kind protagonist and adored the latter for the unlikable, cross and bad-tempered one. The two differing protagonists dually delighted me, however dissimilar they appeared, and I believe the author has a powerful gift in creating characters children (and adults, too!) can find all sides of themselves in.

Asides from the lovable characters, this book also has a poignant story-line that completely enraptured me. Sara Crewe's riches-to-rags-to-riches story was a charming one, but what completely captivated me was in how she dealt with her fate. She remained eternally optimistic and often used fairy tale and stories created inside her own head as a brief escape from her plight. She was gifted with a pure character and a generous soul and instead of appearing as a two-dimensional 'goody good' character, she instilled in me a yearning to be a better individual and to channel some of her spirit.

The parts that brought me to tears, both then and now, was Sara's belief that every female was a princess at heart, and so it is only fitting to end this review with a quote that sums up exactly what is so endearing about this book:

"Whatever comes," she said, "cannot alter one thing. If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.”

I absolutely adored this book! When I was a little girl, I tried to read it but I got so freaked out when she was sent to live in the attic that I never finished reading the book. As an adult, I enjoyed reading the book and the positive lessons it teaches and how very important friendship is. I wish that I had a friends like Sara, Becky and Ermengarde growing up! The only problem that I had with the book was how the theme of exoticism was portrayed even though it is very common for the time period it was written in.

I love this book so much.

جرعة مكثفة من اللطف في عالم مادي وقاسي ومتوحش
مش عايزه اخرج من أدب الأطفال خالص

I managed to write an almost-full review of this book. It is here!: https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...
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I can't believe I'm saying this, but...the movie really was a better story.

Maybe I'll go watch that for the millionth time.

This book pales in comparison to The Secret Garden, but it was still good. Hard to make an über-wealthy seven-year-old seem great, but this book does it. (Burnett KILLS it with the unlikable characters!) I liked the first half better than the second, probably because, again, the movie version of the story is just a lot more entertaining.

There are also a lot more villains in the book. It's more like Sara in a sea of people who are average-to-bad, which is kind of a weird message for a children's book.

Anyway. I'm glad I finally read this, though. It was good, and if I'd read the book first I wouldn't be judging it so harshly.

Bottom line: Yeah, give it a try. Look at that goddamn cover!

What a beautiful and magical classic! I saw the movie years ago and it made me cry (Mrs. Minchin was so mean!) but the book is just as special and lovely. There are few young heroines as inspiring as Sara Crewe, and to read her story is very moving.

“I am a princess. All girls are. Even if they live in tiny old attics. Even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty, or smart, or young. They’re still princesses.”

This old story about a young girl who goes from riches-to-rages has managed to survive the test of time because of Sara. She’s gentle, patient and always tries to be optimistic, but knows evil when she sees it: Mrs. Minchin deserves no kindness at all! Thankfully we also get to see this temper of Sara now and then, because otherwise she would be too much of an (annoyingly perfect) saint.
But her greatest asset - and the reason why many readers love this book so much - is Sara’s power of imagination. She shows us that by believing, even the worst of situations can get a silver lining. No, imagination doesn’t take the hunger or the cold, but it can make things a little easier to deal with.

“If I go on talking and talking...and telling you things about pretending, I shall bear it better. You don't forget, but you bear it better.”

So in this cold month, in which we get bombarded with holiday shopping and rich food and Michael Bublé, remember that it doesn’t matter whether your gifts are big or small, because a gift already shows that you care. Like Sara, poor and alone, still continues to give support and smiles and stories to anyone she meets.

Because of this message, this novel still is wonderful to read, for children and adults alike. The second half did drag a little and the ending was a bit old-fashioned (I liked the movie-ending for Becky much better), but nevertheless this classic remains heartwarming and moving today.
Happy early holidays everyone! :)

SARA IS SO PURE AND LOVELY AND CARING