I knew going into this that much of the book is written in letter format so I tried to keep an open mind. Unfortunately, I hated the letter parts of the book and loved the rest.
The last 1/3 of the book was definitely the most interesting.

3.5 Stars

Content: clean ( )

I haven't read the earlier books in the series but still enjoyed this book.

Anne has taken a job as the principal of a school. But when she gets to Summerside to start work, she finds that half the town (the Pringles clan) is against her because their candidate for the post of principal had lost out to her. The book describes how she eventually wins them over and other events that happen during her three years there. ( )

Anne Shirley has left Redmond College behind to begin a new job and a new chapter of her life away from Green Gables. Now she faces a new challenge: the Pringles. They're known as the royal family of Summerside - and they quickly let Anne know she is not the person they had wanted as principal of Summerside High School. But as she settles into the cozy tower room at Windy Poplars, Anne finds she has great allies in the widows Aunt Kate and Aunt Chatty - and in their irrepressible housekeeper, Rebecca Dew. As Anne learns Summerside's strangest secrets, winning the support of the prickly Pringles becomes only the first of her triumphs.

Such a talented author! ( )

More of a collection of short stories, the book is filled with an ever-revolving door of characters that grow less and less charming by the chapter. Anne wins everybody over, always says exactly the right thing at the right time in the right place, gets in no scraps, involves herself in every love affair, and is just generally TOO perfect. Though I understand Anne has grown and won't be getting into scraps in the way she did in the first book, it just felt too perfect and polished and contrived. She's everybody's best friend and confidant, but the characters aren't established, and so it doesn't pay off. They're introduced only for their short story, in which Anne walks in and gracefully saves the day, and then dissapear completely. Also, Guilbert is almost completely absent in body and spirit even though most of the book is made up of letters Anne writes him. ( )