This edition of The Story Girl was published as a mass-market paperback by Bantam Books (New York) in January 1989, as part of an effort to republish all twenty-two book-length works of fiction by L.M. Montgomery between 1976 and 1989. A near-identical edition had previously been published by Seal Books (Toronto) in April 1987, and the book was reissued by both publishers with a modified cover design in 1993. A near-identical edition with a tie-in cover was published by Bantam Books (London) in 1990.
{ The Story Girl } { The Story Girl: Editions } { Bantam Books } { Editions, 1980–1989 }
Cover of The Story Girl (Seal Books, 1987, 1993), used for the corresponding Bantam Books except for the omission of the Seal Books logo. Cover art by Ben Stahl.
Author
L.M. Montgomery
Title
Language
English
Country
United States of America
Publisher Location
New York
Publisher
Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
Series
Bantam Classics
Publication Date
Format
Print, mass-market paperback, 6 7/8” x 4 3/8”, viii + 258 pp. + 6 pp.
Cover Artist
Ben Stahl
Front Cover Copy
From the author of the beloved Anne of Green Gables series [1989 edition]
From the Author of the Anne of Green Gables Novels [1993 reissue]
She has a story for every occasion . . . and the whole town of Carlisle has fallen under her spell [1989 edition]
Back Cover Copy
[1989 edition]
A Born Storyteller
She’s only fourteen, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist—tales that spark the imagination and touch the heart. Meet Sara Stanley, better known as the Story Girl. She’s L.M. Montgomery’s most enchanting heroine since Anne of Green Gables.
Here, in the charming, old-fashioned town of Carlisle, children and grown-ups alike flock from miles around to hear the Story Girl narrate her spellbinding tales in a voice so pure, so vibrant, so golden, it could melt the heart of a stone. You, too, will be captivated by Sara’s stories—from the scary “Tale of the Family Ghost” to the fanciful “How Kissing Was Discovered” to the bittersweet “The Blue Chest of Rachel Ward.” These are timeless stories to be read . . . and reread . . . and shared with all the special people you love.
[1993 reissue]
Sara Stanley is only fourteen, but she can weave tales that are impossible to resist. In the charming town of Carlisle, children and grown-ups alike flock from miles around to hear her spellbinding tales. And when Bev King and his younger brother Felix arrive for the summer, they, too, are captivated by the Story Girl. Whether she’s leading them on exciting misadventures or narrating timeless stories—from the scary “Tale of the Family Ghost” to the fanciful “How Kissing Was Discovered” to the bittersweet “The Blue Chest of Rachel Ward”—the Story Girl has her audience hanging on her every word.
Contents
(i) [Teaser]
It Was Time for Another Story!
The kitchen was a scene of happy activity. The Story Girl peeled her potatoes, somewhat slowly and awkwardly—for she was not deft at household tasks.
“I am sitting on a tragedy,” said the Story Girl suddenly.
Felix and I stared. We were not quite what a “tragedy” was, but we did not think it was an old blue wooden chest, such as the Story Girl was undoubtedly sitting on . . .
“This old blue chest holds a tragedy,” explained the Story Girl. “I know a story about it.”
“Cousin Rachel Ward’s wedding things are all in that old chest,” said Felicity.
Who was Cousin Rachel Ward? And why were her wedding things shut up in an old blue chest in Uncle Alec’s kitchen? We demanded the tale instantly. The Story Girl told it to us as she peeled her potatoes. Perhaps the potatoes suffered, but the story did not.
“It is a sad story,” said the Story Girl, ”and it happened fifty years ago . . .”
(ii) Other novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery available from Bantam Books
[1989 edition]
Chronicles of Avonlea
The Anne of Green Gables Series
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne’s House of Dreams
Anne of Ingleside
Rainbow Valley
Rilla of InglesideThe Emily Books
Emily of New Moon
Emily Climbs
Emily’s Quest
[1993 edition]
The Blue Castle
The Golden Road
Jane of Lantern Hill
Kilmeny of the Orchard
Magic for Marigold
Mistress Pat
Pat of Silver Bush
The Story Girl
A Tangled WebThe Anne of Green Gables Series
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables Diary
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne’s House of Dreams
Anne of Ingleside
Chronicles of Avonlea
Further Chronicles of Avonlea
Rainbow Valley
Rilla of InglesideThe Emily Books
Emily of New Moon
Emily Climbs
Emily’s Quest
(iii) [Title Page]
(iv) [Copyright Page]
(v) [Half-Title Page]
(vi) [Blank Page]
(vii–viii) Contents
(1–258) [Chapters 1–32]
(n.pag.) [Author Biography]
(n.pag.) [Five pages of ads for Montgomery books and for a Montgomery contest]
Printing History
First publication 1910 [sic] by L.C. Page & Company (Incorporated)
A Bantam Classic Book / January 1989 [1989 edition]
Bantam edition / January 1989
Bantam reissue / February 1993 [1993 edition]
ISBN
0-553-21366-0
Digital Editions
First printing (1989) from Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/storygirl00lmmo/
Related Editions
The Story Girl (Seal Books, 1987)
The Story Girl (Bantam Books, 1990)
Notes
Once again, the original copyright date is listed erroneously as 1910; it should be 1911.
The epigraph and the dedication are omitted.
Sources
A copy of the sixth printing (undated, but with the 1993 cover) is part of the site owner’s personal collection. Information about the 1989 edition is from the scanned copy found at the Internet Archive.