I picked this up from my local Oxfam shop on a whim, as I'm quite partial to older Puffins, and am very glad I did. This is a charming (but not sentimental) story of a 12 year old girl growing up in a small town in Massachusetts in 1912. Her mother is away in hospital in the city, and as if this isn't stressful enough, Helen is going through an awkward phase where everything she does or says seems to be the wrong thing. How she finds a friend and slowly fits in at school, her newly-discovered love of writing, and her disastrous scheme to raise money to buy herself a bike all combine to make a funny yet tender portrait of a girl who (thankfully) lacks the cloying sweetness of Pollyanna or Rebecca, and with whom most of us will be able to empathise. A really good book, especially for young girls who are having trouble fitting in, but don't want to read something angsty.

(Although set in 1912, the book was written in the 50s or later, thus the lack of sentimentality, and no overpowering religious message either.) ( )