Kit by Valerie Tripp the Book \"Meet

¶ … Kit by Valerie Tripp

The book "Meet Kit: An American Girl" by Valerie Tripp takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the Great Depression. Even though "Meet Kit" is a fiction book, the 69-page story is about many of the real things that happened to Americans during the 1930's. Kit's real name is Margaret Kittredge but she likes to be called Kit instead because she is a tomboy. When her sister Ruthie decides to read a book called "The Lilac Fairy," Kit chooses to read "The Adventures of Robin Hood and his Merry Men" and she types an article about it on her typewriter. One of Kit's hobbies is typing up a newspaper on her typewriter for her father to read and she hopes for a major change to happen so she can write a great headline. Ruthie disagrees though because usually when their parents read the real newspaper they get bad news about the Depression. Later when Kit's mother has friends come over for Garden Club her friend Mrs. Howard tells everyone that she and her son Stirling are moving to Chicago for a business opportunity. Kit soon figures out that they are only moving because Mr. Howard lost his job and the family can't afford to pay for their house any longer, before Ms. Kittredge offers to let Stirling stay in the guest room. This news makes Kit excited to have a new friend in the house but she soon discovers that Stirling has health problems and can't play games with her or Ruthie. Things change for the better though when Kit finds out that Stirling loves the Cincinnati Reds baseball team just as much as she does, and the two form a bond by talking about their favorite players.

Later in Chapter Three the Depression forces Kit's father to close his car dealership because people just can't afford to buy new cars anymore. Charlie explains the idea of bankruptcy to Kit and she learns that her family may be in danger of losing their house just the Howards did. Kit doesn't want to worry and tries to think of ways to help her family, but the problem is so big she can't help but worry. Eventually Mrs. Kittredge has a brainstorm and comes up with the idea to let boarders stay in the house to earn money. This means that Stirling moves into Kit's old bedroom and Kit has to move to the attic. At first she is angry about this but soon she begins to enjoy her time alone as she turns the attic into her very own newspaper office. In the end, Kit learns that sometimes changes can be a good thing, and that even though everyone will have to work hard her family has a great chance to make it through the Depression.