Books like Changes for Kit: A Winter Story

mrs. kittredge has sewn a new winter coat for kit out an outgrown winter coat that used to belong to kit's older brother. kit decides to donate her still-functional former winter coat to a needy child down at the hobo jungle, but when she arrives, no one is around. she finally realizes that someone has built a cave shelter into a small hill & she knocks on the door. the ill-tempered hoboes inside explain that the weather is getting bitterly cold & everyone who hung around in the jungle during the summertime has moved into shelters & soup kitchens. kit takes her coat to the soup kitchen & gives to a little girl.the kittredges than receive word that rich, bad-tempered uncle hendrik has slipped on some ice & broken his ankle. he has to stay with them for a week or two while he recovers enough to get back on his feet. because everyone is so busy looking after the paying boarders, taking care of uncle hendrik becomes kit's job. naturally, she hates it because uncle hendrik is a bossy jerk. he calls her away from her free time every day to write down the letters to the editor that he dictates. all his letter are about how FDR is running the country straight into the ground with his useless make-work programs designed to employ the unemployed. kit fumes about uncle hdendrik's opinions because her family has directly benefited from some of the programs he is condemning. when she tries to point this out, hendrik scoffs at her & is all, "i don't need to hear opinions from a child like you, still engaging in baby play like writing your little newspapers." i don't know any babies that write their own newspapers, but maybe i am not as worldly as uncle hendrik.after several weeks of this, kit realizes that uncle hendrik has taught her exactly how to write a letter to the newspaper editor. so she writes her own, all about how the programs FDR is designing are good & helpful, & no one is choosing to be out of work. she writes about meeting hobo children in the hobo jungle the previous summer, & seeing underfed children insufficiently dresses for the weather at the local soup kitchen. she writes that if people only knew how the depression was affecting children, they would do more to help. she then enlists ruthie & stirling to accompany her back to the soup kitchen, where they photograph some of the children in question. kit encloses the film with her letter & drops it off at the newspaper office. the next morning, uncle hendrik almost has a conniption when he sees kit's letter & photos in the paper. everyone else in the house is proud of kit, of course. kit, ruthie, & stirling take up a collection at school to bring their classmates' old clothes, shoes, & coats to needy children at the soup kitchen. when they drop off their donations, the soup kitchen manager tells them that they have been swamped with donations ever since kit's letter was in the paper. kit realizes that the power of her words & photos can make an appreciable difference in people's lives, & that she can contribute in some small way to mitgating the impact of the depression, even if she is just a child.