Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
In June 1934, Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin) is determined to become a reporter, and she writes articles on the typewriter in her attic while drama unfolds beneath her. The mortgage on her house is about to be foreclosed because her father lost his car dealership and couldn't keep up with the payments. He has gone to Chicago, Illinois to search for work, and to make some income her mother takes in an odd assortment of boarders, including magician Mr. Berk, dance instructor Miss Dooley, and mobile library driver Miss Bond.
Locally there have been reports of muggings and robberies supposedly committed by hobos. Kit investigates and meets young Will and Countee, who live in a hobo jungle near the Ohio River and Erie Lackawanna Railway. Kit writes a story about the camp and tries to sell it to Mr. Gibson, the mean editor of the Cincinnati newspaper, but he has no interest in the subject. She adopts a dog, her mother buys chickens, and Kit sells their eggs.
Then a locked box containing her mother's treasures is stolen, and a footprint with a star matching the one on Will's boot is discovered, making him the prime suspect. The sheriff goes to find Will and Countee. However, Will and Countee have left the hobo jungle. Kit, Stirling and Ruthie then set out to investigate on the incidents and clear Will's name. It then turns out that Mr. Berk, along with his assistant Frederich and Miss Bond, were actually the ones behind the robberies, framing Will and the rest of the hobos for the crime. Kit then becomes a local hero. They found out that Countee has been pretending to be a boy. On Thanksgiving, the hobos bring food to Kit's mother and Kit's father returns home. Mr. Gibson arrives to show Kit that she is in print in Cincinnati's major daily newspaper.
inspiring, depressing