An Old-Fashioned Girl

Louisa May Alcott's An Old-Fashioned Girl is a classic novel for young readers about character, simplicity, friendship, and the quiet strength of a girl who refuses to be remade by fashion. Polly Milton comes from the country to visit her wealthy friend Fanny Shaw in the city, where she encounters a household shaped by comfort, manners, social ambition, and modern expectations. At first, Polly's plain dress, old-fashioned habits, and sincere ways seem out of step with the world around her, but her kindness, steadiness, and moral independence gradually reveal a deeper kind of refinement.First published in 1870, An Old-Fashioned Girl belongs with Alcott's best-loved stories of girlhood, family life, work, self-respect, and moral growth. Like Little Women, it values usefulness over vanity, affection over display, and inner character over social performance. This SMK Books edition presents an enduring work of classic children's fiction for readers of Louisa May Alcott, nineteenth-century American literature, juvenile classics, girls' coming-of-age stories, domestic fiction, and family-centred moral fiction.