Little Men

Little Men takes place pretty soon after Little Women and is the story of Jo and Fritz’s adventures running their school for boys at Plumfield.  Some fun new characters are introduced in the boys who are at the school.  Some of them are orphans, some are not but they all call Jo and Fritz “Mother” and “Father” Bhaer.  It is a wonderful book and just like all of Louisa May Alcott’s books, it does me a lot of good to read it.  Jo is at the center of it and is still as “Jo” as ever.  She is the center of all of these young boy’s worlds.  It is fun to get to know Fritz better through this book and their two young sons Rob and Teddy are adorable.  Meg’s twins Demi and Daisy are out at Plumfield and are both featured heavily in the book.  Laurie is probably the other “Little Women” character who is featured the most, along with his little fairy princess of a daughter Bess.  This book can at times get a little more boring than Little Women, and is at times a little too preachy but is filled with some wonderful moments.  In particular the story of Dan and the mother/son relationship that develops between him and Jo is one of the most beautiful stories of redemption and the power of love I’ve ever read.  It is one of my favorite relationships throughout the entire “Little Women” series.  There are some wonderfully funny moments too, like Jo’s play of Cinderella she gets together for Thanksgiving or Tommy Bang’s antics.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Little Women!