THE INNOCENTS FROM INDIANA

by Emily Kimbrough ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 1950

Somewhat quieter in general tone than the hilarous It Gives Me Great Pleasure, but still amusing as only Emily Kimbrough can be. She takes incidents from the awkward growing pain years of a Chicago childhood, and makes them vastly entertaining reading for her loyal market. The Kimbroughs moved when Emily was ten from Muncie, where it was quite all right for youngsters to chart their own social careers, to Chicago where she was called a ""rube"" -- a ""hayseed from Indiana"" and other insulting terms because she broke the youthful code of conformity out of sheer ignorance of Chicago mores. A residential hotel proved a frustrating experience; the wrong neighborhood for the first apartment had other disadvantages; the big girls' school was devastating and it took a good many months of trial and error to reach acceptance. Episodic in the telling, and rather uneven in degree of successful recall (small brother is fun in small doses, but some of his attempts to swell his bank account are spun to too great length; I liked the Emily stories much better). There's an occasional aura of nostalgia for readers whose own experiences touch Emily's at frequent points. Surely popular for pick-up reading, and should have a plus sale for older girls.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1950

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1950

Categories: NONFICTION