Visions

The interesting differences I found within the stories are the wide array of characters: a naive girl, a broken Native American, a street-wise packrat, and an indecisive farmer. The similarity I found was very clear for them all: they all had distressing stories about being abducted or drunk or robbed. I think that the adults forget something when they lose their childhood--I don't think childhood is as stressful as the grown-ups made it out to be. I found childhood much easier, but adolescence is perhaps more filled with responsibilities.

One of my favorite stories is that of Anne of Green Gables, a girl who never makes the same mistake twice. She has to trudge through the difficulties of orphanhood and responsibilities as she grows up, but still she keeps her childlike mischievousness and clever ideas. It really captures the innocence and fun that childhood can be even with its changing priviledges. I think it is most similar to For Esme because the main female character is very witty and very well-learned for her age.