"Since its publication on September 30, 1868, Little Women has been one of America's favorite stories. While we now think of it as a girls' book, it was initially read by both boys and girls, men and women of all ages. Professor Anne Boyd Rioux, who read it in her twenties, tells us how Louisa May Alcott came to write the book and drew inspiration for her story from her own life. Its Civil War-era tale of family and community ties resonated through later wars, the Depression, and times of changing opportunities for women, even into the twenty-first century. Rioux sees the novel's beating heart in its honest look at adolescence and its inspiring vision of young women's resilience and hope. In gauging its reception today, she shows why it remains a book with such power that people carry its characters and spirit throughout their lives."--

In 1861, Margaret March, with her husband serving as an army chaplain, finds the comfort and security of her four daughters resting on her shoulders alone as she faces financial hardships, secrets, and tragedy, in this revealing retelling of Little Women from the perspective of the beloved matriarch known as Marmee.

"With the start of eighth grade, Jo March decides it's time to get serious about her writing and joins the school newspaper. But even with her new friend Freddie cheering her on, becoming a hard-hitting journalist is a lot harder than Jo imagined. That's not all that's tough. Jo and her sisters--Meg, Beth, and Amy--are getting used to a new normal at home, with their dad deployed overseas and their mom, a nurse, working overtime. What does it take to figure out who you are? Jo March is about to find out."--Provided by publisher.

Louisa May Alcott's classic coming-of-age story follows the childhood adventures of the four free-spirited March sisters and their family's struggles during the Civil War.

Writer-director Greta Gerwig has crafted a film that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott and unfolds as the author's alter ego, Jo March reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig's take, the beloved story of the March sisters, four young women each determined to live life on her own terms, is both timeless and timely.