When did I first read Pollyanna? I couldn't say. This little book is a perennial favorite. It's been a few years since I picked it up and this time I found that my memory had deceived me again. What you remember is a story about a girl who wants everyone to be glad, and who gets a happy ending at last. What you get is a story about an orphaned girl sent to a loveless home who reaches out to the troubled people of a small town, resulting in a wide variety of pathetic tales of woe and loss. Pollyanna's insistently cheerful nature is clouded by the fact that each time she plays the infamous "glad game" it is bitter reminder of the harsh life she lived, and the loss of her beloved father. Those people who have only seen the Haley Mills version of the movie might be surprised by the pathos embedded in this story. It is needed, however, in order to balance out the sometimes saccharine nature of a story about a little girl who reminds a whole town what it is to be glad.