A Flock of Girls and Boys

A conversation about a wealthy Boston family sets Nora Perry's young characters arguing over money, ancestry and personal worth. Tilly Morris challenges the fuss surrounding the Pelhams, while Will Wentworth defends generosity and independence as better grounds for family pride. A Flock of Girls and Boys gathers children's stories in which teasing, social ambition and everyday choices give young people reasons to reconsider their judgments.

School life provides another setting for these questions. At Hill House Seminary, Eva Nelson and Alice King discuss the good Samaritan and wonder how girls with busy lessons can help anyone. Their criticism of fellow pupil Cordelia Burr brings that discussion close to their own supper table. Readers interested in older school stories will find lively exchanges and recognizable tensions between professing kindness and practising it, with clothing, manners and friendship carrying much of the moral argument.