"Anne of the Island" by L.M. Montgomery

Whew.  Anne of Avonlea had me a little worried, that I'd find the rest of the Anne books disappointing like it was.  But nope, Anne of the Island delighted me thoroughly.  I read the last six chapters in an impatient fervor.

For the most part, I think the difference is that Island doesn't have any cutesy parts, whereas Avonlea had too many of them.  The change of scenery and lots of new characters helped too.  And of course, the undercurrent of thwa...