GRETCHEN'S HILL

Gretchen's adventures seem excessively gentle and harmless at the opening of this story, but by the time she pulls a plaid underskirt out of the pile of debris on her floor, turns it into a pair of makeshift bloomers, and dashes outside to go roller coasting downhill in a hot-roddish baby carriage, she's turned into a pert, very active, likable girl. She's the daughter of a railroad worker, lives in a small town in Pennsylvania, and the time is 1920-ish. The book is a series of incidental memories; like parents' reminiscences, they offer the revelation that ""Mama had been irresponsible when she was little,"" and seem surprisingly familiar. The book is somewhat like Marian Potter's Milepost 67, (p. 513, J-179) not quite as distinctive, but very pleasant.