Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is the first feature film based on the popular doll and book series produced by the Pleasant Company. Each of their dolls is a girl from a different period of American history from Colonial days to the 1970’s, and each character has books about issues and challenges specific to their eras (the American revolution, slavery, pioneer era, World War II) and universal problems of growing up (family communication, confronting prejudice, making new friends, learning new skills). This film, lovingly produced by Julia Roberts and starring “Little Miss Sunshine’s” Abigail Breslin is the story of a Depression-era Cincinnati girl who wants to be a reporter. As homes are foreclosed all around her and her father loses his job and leaves town to look for work, Kit and her mother (Julia Ormond) turn their home into a boarding house and befriend two young “hobos.” When evidence seems to point to one of them as the culprit in a series of robberies, Kit must decide who to trust. She is always courageous, determined, responsible, thoughtful, and principled, but she is not always right. She has to learn some lessons before, like all American Girls, she saves the day.

This is one of the best family movies of the summer, a refreshingly wholesome story with a winning heroine, an absorbing story, and a touching conclusion. The details of the era, including the harsh financial circumstances, are vivid but gently conveyed. And like all good stories, it creates an excellent opportunity for family conversation about the factors to consider in making responsible choices. Some of the questions families might want to consider are:

Who in the movie best demonstrated responsibility? Which characters did the most to help others?

Why were some of the characters in the movie ashamed of being poor? Why were others not ashamed?

Will made an unusual choice to help Countee. Do you think it was the right one?

Why did Miss Bond change her mind?

Why did Kit trust Will? Why did she trust Miss Bond?

Kit has to do some things that are very hard for her. Which were less hard than she expected and what did she learn from them?

If you were going to write a story about your experiences for a newspaper, what would it be about and why?

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