Hollowmell

An impulsive schoolgirl learns to turn good intentions into practical help in E. R. Burden's children's novel. Minnie Kimberley begins by accepting a sharp reminder about her misplaced schoolbooks, surprising her rival Mona Cameron with a frank admission of carelessness. Her close friendship with Mabel Chartres gives her someone to confide in as she explains how Christian faith has changed her ideas about pleasure and responsibility.

The girls' efforts take shape through everyday tasks, including a plan for boys to knit their own winter stockings while listening to stories. Mabel also answers a child's urgent appeal and enters a cottage where a seriously ill mother lies among her young children. Schoolroom rivalry, useful work and difficult encounters with illness give the story its moral focus. Readers interested in children's fiction about friendship and religious duty will find those concerns expressed through specific choices and conversations.