7 h 21 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 7 h 21 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On the Colorado frontier, the dream of gold shares the trail with friendship and the first tests of courage.
Polly and Eleanor brings two friends into a world of mountains, mining camps and big hopes. In Lillian Elizabeth Roy’s adventure for young readers, the Colorado frontier is more than a backdrop. Its steep trails and rough camps give growing up a setting where courage matters and the promise of gold carries risk.
At the center are Polly and Eleanor, and the friendship that joins their names. Alongside the adventure, the book explores the slower work of growing up: learning from differences, supporting another person and finding patience, honesty and nerve. It also offers a warm glimpse of how an earlier generation imagines the American West.
What you’ll discover
- A friendship at the center Follow two young friends through a tale that makes their bond as important as adventure.
- Mountains and mining camps Enter a Colorado frontier of steep trails, rough camps and the hope of sudden fortune.
- The promise of gold Explore the hopes and risks that make gold more than a glittering prize.
- Quiet tests of character Look beneath the adventure for the patience, honesty and nerve that growing up asks.
- An earlier imagined West Discover the wide land and big hopes of an early twentieth-century story for young readers.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like lively frontier adventure, animal scenes, warm family humor and young heroines who dream of careers and finding their own way.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Quick thinking protects the gold claim
- Courage means facing the news
- Kindness earns a wild creature's trust
- A resemblance opens a family mystery
- Polly speaks for her own future
- Courtship gives the ranch shared laughter
- Wider plans attract unwelcome visitors
- Friendship must leave room for honesty
- Growing up reaches beyond the ranch
Who’s who
- Polly BrewsterA fourteen-year-old ranch girl, brave and honest, who owns a gold claim and longs to attend a big-city school.
- Eleanor MaynardPolly's quick, witty Chicago friend, sent west for her health, who hatches daring plans for their future together.
- Barbara MaynardEleanor's vain older sister, who dislikes ranch life and hopes for a fashionable society camp and a rich match.
- Anne StewartA kind young teacher who looks after the girls, supports her family and is loved by John Brewster.
- Sam BrewsterPolly's father, a wary rancher who guards the beautiful Rainbow Cliffs and dreads losing his daughter to school.
- John BrewsterPolly's older brother, a young engineer who plans the mine and hopes to win Anne for his wife.
- JebThe small, loyal ranch hand who dreams of a movie-screen bride and fears the widow who has chosen him.
- Sary DoddThe strong, funny maid and cook who is set on marrying Jeb and bettering herself.
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- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Polly and Eleanor in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Polly and Eleanor
by Lillian Elizabeth Roy · 1922
Two girls, a buried gold mine and a ranch father who will not let go of his daughter.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
What do you do when claim jumpers, a forest fire and an avalanche all arrive on one mountain in the same day? Polly Brewster, a ranch girl of fourteen, has to find out.
Polly and Eleanor at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 10 min3 h 20 min fast, 5 h slow
- Length
- 59,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1922by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A secret trail beats the claim jumpers
The claim to Montresor's Mine is filed at Oak Creek. Sam Brewster, Polly's father, sends a coded telegram to his son John, because plain words would bring every rascal in the region to Top Notch Trail. The family will ride up at dawn with the lawyer and the sheriff.
Jeb, the ranch hand, fetches Rattle-Snake Mike, the best scout around, before strangers can hire him. Mike leads the riders up a hidden Indian trail that cuts the climb by more than half. At Four Mile Blaze he presses his ear to the ground. From a boot print, hoof marks and a trickle of flour, he reads that three miners and a lame packhorse have gone ahead, and two riders follow behind.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1922
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 45 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Roy, Lillian Elizabeth. Polly and Eleanor. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/polly-and-eleanor.
Roy, L. E. (2026). Polly and Eleanor. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/polly-and-eleanor (Original work published 1922)
Roy, Lillian Elizabeth. Polly and Eleanor. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/polly-and-eleanor.
@book{roy2026polly,
author = {Roy, Lillian Elizabeth},
title = {Polly and Eleanor},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/polly-and-eleanor},
note = {First published 1922}
}
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What is Polly and Eleanor about?
It follows Polly Brewster and her friend Eleanor Maynard after they find an old gold mine in the Colorado mountains. The story covers claim jumpers, an avalanche, family mysteries and Polly's wish to go to school away from her ranch.
Who are Polly and Eleanor?
Polly is a fourteen-year-old ranch girl from Pebbly Pit in Colorado. Eleanor is her friend from Chicago, sent west for her health. They become close and share dreams of studying interior decorating.
Do I need to read Polly of Pebbly Pit first?
This is the second book in the Polly Brewster series, but the narrator introduces the main people at the start. The story stands well on its own, with each book complete in itself.
The author
Lillian Elizabeth Roy
1868–1932 · American children's writer
Lillian Elizabeth Roy (1868–1932) was an American writer who lived in the United States. She wrote books for children in the early twentieth century. Her titles include Polly's Business Venture, Polly and Eleanor, and Girl Scouts in the Adirondacks. She wrote several books in these series.
More by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
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