If I’d first read this in my teens, I suspect I would have responded very strongly to it
As someone who read Alanna at the age of 9, I know precisely what you mean by this. I have very fond memories of the book and of the Alanna character, but I haven't read the book in many years, so I don't know if those visceral reactions I had back then would hold true now. Either way, though, I think it's definitely a worthy book I'd recommend for young female readers, particularly in light of this Twilight business. I admit to having been kind of horrified at the thought that the primary fictional female role model for the nine-year-old daughter of one of my classmates was Bella Swan, so I staged an intervention, completely with AVI's True Confessions of Charlotte doyle, The Summer of My German Soldier, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I'm just glad I caught her before she started reading the Gossip Girl series (because seriously, SHE'S NINE).
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As someone who read Alanna at the age of 9, I know precisely what you mean by this. I have very fond memories of the book and of the Alanna character, but I haven't read the book in many years, so I don't know if those visceral reactions I had back then would hold true now. Either way, though, I think it's definitely a worthy book I'd recommend for young female readers, particularly in light of this Twilight business. I admit to having been kind of horrified at the thought that the primary fictional female role model for the nine-year-old daughter of one of my classmates was Bella Swan, so I staged an intervention, completely with AVI's True Confessions of Charlotte doyle, The Summer of My German Soldier, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I'm just glad I caught her before she started reading the Gossip Girl series (because seriously, SHE'S NINE).