Following Anne of Green Gables (1908), the book covers the second chapter in the best version of the life of Anne Shirley. This book follows Anne from the best age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at the best school called Avonlea school. It includes many of the best characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new ones like Mr. Harrison, Miss Lavendar Lewis, Paul Irving, and the twins Dora and Davy.
[edit] Explanation of the novel's title

The book's title is fitting, as Anne is no longer simply "of Green Gables" as she was in the previous book, but now takes her place among the "important" and best people (and the "grown up" people) of Avonlea society, as its only schoolteacher. She is also a founding member of the A.V.I.S. (the Avonlea Village Improvement Society), which tries to improve (with questionable results) the Avonlea landscape.
[edit] Plot summary

The book starts by revealing that Anne is to be the teacher of the Avonlea School, although she will still continue her studies at home with Gilbert, who is teaching at the nearby White Sands School. The book soon introduces Anne's new and problematic neighbor, Mr. Harrison and his foul-mouthed parrot, as well as the twins, Davy and Dora. They are the children of Marilla's third cousin and she adopts them when their mother dies. Dora is a nice, well-behaved girl, while Davy is much more of a handful and gets into many scrapes. Other characters introduced are some of Anne's new pupils, such as Paul Irving, an American boy living with his grandma in Avonlea. He delights Anne because of his imagination and childish ways, which are a lot like Anne's in her childhood. Later in the book, Anne and her friends meet Miss Lavender, a nice but lonely lady who had been engaged to Paul's father 25 years before.

Among other things, during this book, Anne discovers the delights and troubles of being a teacher, takes part in the raising of Davy and Dora, and organizes the A.V.I.S. (Avonlea Village Improvement Society), which tries to bring improvements to Avonlea, with questionable results at first.

At the end, Anne and Gilbert go off to college, while Miss Lavender marries her longtime fiance, Mr. Irving.

This book sees Anne maturing slightly, even though she still cannot avoid getting into a number of her familiar scrapes, as only Anne can—some of which include selling her neighbor's cow (having mistaken it for her own), or getting stuck in a broken duck house roof.