Description

In Louisa May Alcott’s charming coming-of-age-tale, Jack and Jill go up a hill—and then suffer a terrible accident; it is at this point Alcott’s novel deviates from the classic children’s nursery rhyme. Jack and Jill are close childhood friends, but one day that bond is threatened when they are seriously injured during a sledding accident. Jack is left with a broken leg and Jill with an injured back. As they recover from their physical injuries, Jack and Jill, along with their group of friends, enter into a process of emotional and moral healing. Jack and Jill’s parents and friends come up with various creative activities to help pass the time as they recuperate, including the development of a personal mail system and a theatrical production. During the process, the friends learn important lessons about self-improvement, individual growth, and moral responsibility. A story that will appeal to both boys and girls, and the young and old alike, Jack and Jill’s creative revision of the nursery tale results in an inspiring narrative of real depth about the surprisingly positive effects of traumatic events.

About the Author

Drawing from her childhood in a close-knit and unique family from Concord, Massachusetts, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) created a beloved collection of works about young people coming of age in the post Civil-War era. Alcott's books for young adults, among them Little Women, Jo's Boys, Under the Lilacs, and An Old-Fashioned Girl, are noted for their wholesome themes. However, she was a multi-faceted writer who also dabbled in a more grown-up genre. Sometimes published under a pseudonym or anonymously, Alcott's alternative body of work consists of "less respectable" and torrid romances, mysteries, and thrillers such as A Long Fatal Love Chase, A Modern Mephistopheles, and Behind a Mask.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

Jack and Jill went up the hill To coast with fun and laughter; Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after.
"Clear the lulla!" was the general cry on a bright December afternoon, when all the boys and girls of Harmony Village were out enjoying the first good snow of the season. ...