On this shelf, we have chosen to include books that are considered American Classics from the early 1900s. What makes a book an American Classic? It is a nebulous thing sometimes decided by critics and often by the reading public. Books that are known as favorites among the majority of the reading public for fifty or more years, are often called classics now.
Most books that are considered classics are many years old. However, the term is often applied to newer books that critics feel have that potential to be a classic in years to come. Many of these books have been made into movies and are now considered movie classics.
The books on our American Classics shelf are written by American authors (authors living in the Northern or Southern hemisphere of the American continent) and have survived fifty or more years as a favorite for many readers.
Our first publication of an American Classic is that beloved novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery called, Anne of Green Gables. We will continue to publish the whole series of books about Anne Shirley (Anne spelled with an “e”) living in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island in Canada. These books are sometimes considered children’s books and could be so catalogued, but they are also read the world over by adults. So, we feel they belong on the Classics shelf.