Just David, Paperback/Eleanor H. Porter

Just David is a 1916 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It was among the top six bestsellers in cities across the United States in 1916, and in July 1916 it was the second bestselling novel. Originally published by Houghton Mifflin, it tells the story of a young boy, David, who must learn to adapt to living with others after the death of his recluse father; along the way, the villagers and his adoptive parents adapt as much or more to him. Though criticized by reviewers as "mush" and "too perfectly lovely," the novel was very popular in the early half of the twentieth century in middle and high schools, and has recently seen a number of reprints. The novel was transcribed in Braille in 1922, and translated in Chinese (1959) and Russian (2005).