I borrowed this book from the school library when I was about 12. Reading “Daddy-Long-Legs”, I fell in love with the idea of having penfriends and the art of letter writing.
Jerusha Abbott (later called Judy) is an orphan at the John Grier Home, which is nothing like loving atmosphere of the orphanage in John Irving’s The Cider House Rules.
Already 18, Judy’s future is uncertain until one day, the matron delivers some good news:
Hearing that she’s a budding writer, a trustee will sponsor her college education and even give her a monthly allowance! However, she has to write him (addressed to a fictitious “John Smith”) a letter every month but he will never reply
Mystified by these strange conditions, Judy sets herself to be a good student at college and dedicates her time well in writing her monthly updates to her trustee.
One day, she catches a glimpse of his tall, sinewy shadow or silhouette and starts calling him “Daddy-Long-Legs” instead.
The book is filled with Judy’s description of life at college, some amusing and some not so especially when she remembers her shabby background. Her letters to “Daddy-Long-Legs” fill up a good portion of her book, including cute stick drawings 
I could identify with Judy when I read the book because:
“Daddy-Long-Legs” is definitely one of my favourite books (read and re-read many times!) and reading Jean Webster’s biography, she’s my sort of heroine too!
Rating: 
Jean Webster accomplished a lot both as a writer and also for the improvement of orphanages and women’s causes. I hope that I’d be able to do something that worthwhile too…
You can read Daddy-Long-Legs, Dear Enemy, The Four Pools Mystery, Jerry, Jerry Junior, Just Patty and When Patty Went to College for FREE online (PDF and Kindle formats available!).
About Jean Webster (taken from Encyclopedia Brittanica)
Originally named Alice Jane Chandler Webster, she adopted the name Jean when she studied at the Lady Jane Grey School in Binghamton, New York.
In 1901 she graduated from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. Webster, who was a grandniece of Mark Twain, showed an early interest in writing.
While in college she contributed a weekly column to the Poughkeepsie Sunday Courier and at the same time started writing the stories that were collected in her first book, When Patty Went to College (1903).
(Photo from here)
Daddy-Long-Legs, first serialized in the Ladies’ Home Journal, became a best-seller when published in book form. It was a successful stage play (1914) in Webster’s own adaptation, and a popular Mary Pickford silent film (1919).
Daddy-Long-Legs was not only a successful piece of fiction but also a stimulus to reform the institutional treatment of orphans. In 1914 Webster published Dear Enemy, a sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs and also a best-seller.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting info on Jean Webster. I haven’t read Dear Enemy yet – will get to that later. Is it still Judy who’s writing the letters?
Josette – Gee…I can’t remember what “Dear Enemy” is about as I read it ages ago. But I think it’s also a book of “letter writing” and it’s a funny one