Pollyanna Grows Up is a 1915 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It is the first of many sequels to Porter's best-selling Pollyanna (1913), but is the only one written by Porter herself; the numerous later additions to the Pollyanna franchise were the work of other authors.
Contents
Plot introduction
Pollyanna is sent to Boston by her aunt to cheer up Mrs. Carew (née Ruth Weatherby), an old friend of Dr. Ames, who had cured Pollyanna's crippling spinal injury. Unaware of her role as a "happiness medicine", Pollyanna quickly charms the servants in Mrs. Carew's household, although Mrs. Carew herself remains unhappy. The root cause of Mrs. Carew's unhappiness is that her estranged brother-in-law had vanished with her nephew, Jamie, who had become the darling of the Weatherby family. While Mrs. Carew coops herself in the house, Pollyanna explores Boston, meeting new friends Sadie Dean and "Sir James". Sir James is a delicate literary genius whose withered legs compel him to rely on a wheelchair and crutches, something Pollyanna immediately empathizes with. When she learns that Sir James' real name is Jamie, and that he is an orphan, Pollyanna persuades Mrs. Carew to see Jamie. Mrs. Carew is unable to confirm if Jamie is her nephew, but on seeing that Jamie's adoptive family live in abject poverty and under Pollyanna's influence, she uses her wealth to improve their living conditions. Eventually, she adopts Jamie and treats him as her nephew, transforming both her and Jamie's lives.
The latter part of the book is set eight years later. Now twenty, Pollyanna and her aunt fall upon hard times after the death of Dr. Chilton. Needing the money, Pollyanna and her aunt take in the friends Pollyanna made eight years earlier as summer boarders. The summer vacation changes their lives, as the Carews quickly befriend Pollyanna's neighbours, the Pendletons. Friendship blossoms into love as Sadie Dean & Jamie, John Pendleton & Mrs. Carew, and Pollyanna & Jimmy Bean (now Jimmy Pendleton) fall in love with one another. Aunt Polly at first refuses to sanction Pollyanna's marriage to Jimmy Bean, but after it is revealed that Jimmy is Mrs. Carew's missing nephew, she changes her mind. Fears that Mrs. Carew might disown Jamie prove unfounded. The novel ends with Pollyanna declaring how glad she is for everything, and Jimmy telling her, "God grant, little girl, that always it may be so—with you."
Characters
Pollyanna Whittier—relentlessly positive orphaned girl, born in a “faraway western town”, moved to rural Vermont at age eleven and gradually wins over her aunt Polly.
(Aunt) Polly (Harrington) Chilton—Pollyanna’s custodial maternal aunt who is gradually won over by her lively niece
(Dr.) Thomas Chilton—Polly (Harrington) Chilton’s husband
John Pendleton—Affluent Vermont bachelor, previously rejected as a suitor by Pollyanna’s late mother Jennie
Jamie "Jimmy Bean" Kent—orphaned son of John Kent and Doris (Wetherby) Kent, lived with his father after his mother’s death, alone in an orphanage after his father’s death, and adopted by John Pendleton after fleeing the orphanage, known as Jimmy Bean before adoption by John Pendleton, known as Jimmy Pendleton after adoption by John Pendleton
"Jamie"—friend to Pollyanna in Boston, last name not known, referred to as "Sir James" by Jerry Murphy, originally a wheelchair user and cared for by "Mumsey" and Jerry Murphy, later adopted by Ruth Carew and able to walk with crutches, incorrectly suspected of actually being Jamie Kent
William Wetherby—father to Della Wetherby, Ruth (Wetherby) Carew, and Doris (Wetherby) Kent
Della Wetherby—nurse working at the sanatorium, involved in Pollyanna’s care
Ruth (Wetherby) Carew—wealthy dowager, widowed after a year of marriage to an older unnamed husband, with whom she’d had a son who died within a year after her husband’s death
Doris (Wetherby) Kent—deceased sister of Ruth and Della
John Kent—deceased widower of Doris (Wetherby) Kent
Reception
The Morning Union wrote that it is "good as it can be" and that it "will come as a real joy" to those who had enjoyed the first novel.
Adaptation
In 1986, Nippon Animation produced the 51-episode anime The Story of Pollyanna, Girl of Love as part of the World Masterpiece Theater series. Episodes 28 to 51 are based on the second novel, with one major difference: the time skip is omitted and Pollyanna remains a child throughout the story; consequently, the romantic element is absent.