written by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin

A brave and smart 14-year old Anna Coburn, living in 1840’s America. Anna will face different challenges, from falling ill and getting separated from her family, to living a Shaker life, to reuniting with her father plus a new member of the family, his new wife. But after experiencing the rigid rules but enchanting lifestyle of the Shaker community, will Anna be the same or will she see the world in a new light?

Anna, the young Beauty with a Soul

Before being thrust into the Shaker life, Anna was sick with typhoid brought by the flood that devastated her hometown, Martindale. Anna is very good with arithmetic, making her a valuable helper to her father who manages a business. Anna is also a young lady who asks a lot of questions, most of them are surprisingly ahead of her age and time. In the book, we will discover that Anna, though very brave, is very protective of her friends and family.

Sister Zenobia, the Secretly Badass Shaker with High Intuition

The other important character in the story is Sister Zenobia, the guardian of Anna. Even though they got separated, it seems Zenobia has this divine power to point our Anna to the right path. She might have seen a lot of similarities between her and the young protagonist thus making her her moral guardian throughout the book.

Mother Emily, symbol of Outward Beauty

When Mother Emily got introduced in the later parts of the book, I was eager to see what figurative role she would play in Anna’s not-so-ordinary life as a blossoming woman. The more she interacted with Anna, the more clear her role was. She is engrossed in outward appearances and have no problem in being boxed in common expectations from a woman during that time. Through Emily, Anna discovered what are the most important things in life.

The major part of the book was set in Goshen, a fictional Shaker community. Although in real life, Shakers are famous in being very religious and too uptight in their way of life, they are also highly respected when it comes to their honest and high quality work like medicinal plants and wood products, among many others. They are also well-known for distributing wealth evenly to the family members because for Shakers, poverty is unacceptable.

And how, Anna wondered, can everybody here always be so sure what pleases or displeases God?

pp. 126, Chapter 19: Visitors in the Garden

Anna’s World is both a children’s history book which dives into the colorful life of Shakers and a journey of a girl who could teach us adults a thing or two about life, simplicity, growing up from our mistakes and growing strong from challenges.