Elnora Comstock's first day at high school is a disaster. The other students laugh at her clothes, and then -- to make matters worse -- she learns she has to pay for her books and tuition. --- [Excerpt from back cover.]

The Magnificent Ambersons is the epic story of an American family's traumatic tumble from the dizzying heights of fame and fortune. A dynasty spanning three generations, the Ambersons' pre-eminence as society's elite is threatened -- not only by a hungry new breed of industrial entrepreneur -- but from its own arrogance and greed. At the center of the story is George Amberson Minafer, the pampered but pitiful, scion of the clan upon whose shoulders...

"The story of a young woman from Wisconsin who goes to Chicago, becomes an actress, marries and moves to New York, and when her husband loses his job, returns to the stage." ***"A powerful account of a young working girl's rise to the 'tinsel and shine' of worldly success, and of the slow decline of her lover and protector Hurstwood." Oxford Companion to Engl Lit. ***"Plain, unaffected, and unconventional story of the actual life of the lower middle-classes...

At the Foot of the Rainbow uses fishing as a backdrop to tell the story of Jimmy Malone and Dannie MacNoun, who is in love with Jimmy's wife, Mary. The characters, setting, dialogue/dialect, and virtues are classic Porter; the issues and values are timeless; and the thought-provoking manner in which Stratton-Porter concludes her story leave one considering their own lives on a deeper level.

This is the story of a middle-class family living in the industrialized "midland country" at the turn of the 20th century. It is against this dingy backdrop that Alice Adams seeks to distinguish herself. She goes to a dance in a used dress, which her mother attempts to renew by changing the lining and adding some lace. She adorns herself not with orchids sent by the florist but with a bouquet of violets she has picked herself. Because her family cannot...

A quintessential American heroine, Eliza Birdwell is a wonderful blend of would-be austerity, practicality, and gentle humor when it comes to keeping her faith and caring for her family and community. Her husband, Jess, shares Eliza's love of people and peaceful ways but, unlike Eliza, also displays a fondness for a fast horse and a lively tune. With their children, they must negotiate their way through a world that constantly confronts them-sometimes...

The setting is Bath during the eighteenth century. Before the action of the novel begins, Beau Nash has ordered M. Beaucaire out of the public rooms because of his low status. A barber to a French noble, Baeucaire has since that incident established a reputation for honesty while gambling with English notables in private. After many confrontations, Beaucaire reveals himself as a French prince, hiding from his cousin, King Louis XV of France, who is...

Penrod tells of a boy growing up in Indianapolis at the turn of the twentieth century. His friends and his dog accompany him on his many jaunts, from the stage as the Child Sir Lancelot, to the playground, to school. They make names for themselves as bad boys who always have the most fun.

A collection of the author's popular poems of childhood, illustrated with Hoosier pictures by Will Vawter. James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916) was an American poet whose most famous works, Little Orphant Annie (1885) and The Raggedy Man (1890), were written in an Indiana dialect.