My grandparents gave this (and its predecessor) to me as a kid, and even then I knew it was terribly old-fashioned but I loved it anyway. It can be preachy in places, but I enjoyed the characters so much that I didn't care and still don't.

I was also delighted with who Amy ended up marrying. (I think the chapter in question, "Learning to Forget" is my favourite of the entire series.) I know a lot of people weren't thrilled with the outcome, but I was so too bad for them!