Carol from the Country

Written by: Frieda Friedman

First line: Never, not once in her eleven and a half years, had Carol felt as unhappy as she did today, the first day in the new apartment.

Why you should read this book: Relocating from their big, beautiful farmhouse in the country to a loud, cramped New York tenement is definitely the worst thing that’s ever happened to Carol, and to add insult to injury, the twins think city living is great, and keep sending new kids upstairs to meet their big sister. But Carol doesn’t want to be friends with these overly-familiar children, especially not the janitor’s daughter, or the immigrant girl, or the kid whose dress is too small and too tight because her mom is too poor to buy a new one, and by the time she realizes that having some friends in her new neighborhood might not be such a bad idea, even the doctor’s daughter thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. It would take a major catastrophe to get back into their good graces now.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You don’t associate with the unwashed masses.