I woke up much earlier than seemed necessary this morning, and after being walked over by restless cats until I was fully awake, I decided to re-read A Little Princess, which for some reason I had been thinking about. What a lovely little book that is! Though I still love The Secret Garden better, there's something so particularly charming and delightful about Sara Crewe. I was thinking, upon this reading, that really the reader should hate such a perfectly good and kind little girl, but what redeems her is the struggles she must go through to be so good and kind. It is not easy for her to be a princess, even when she is treated like one. Though she says that of course she is able to be good and kind when people are always pleasant to her, still she must watch her tongue when speaking to Lavinia or Miss Minchin. Yet, so she can completely understand what others are feeling and how best to help them, she needs the trials through which she goes to become a true "little princess".