Witch Winnie

The well-behaved girls of the Amen Corner have their comfortable school routine disturbed when mischievous Winnie becomes one of their roommates. Nellie Smith, nicknamed Tib, tells the story with an eye for classroom reputations, uneven friendships and the gap between obeying rules and behaving generously. An early dispute over bouquets offered to a cadet band gives Elizabeth W. Champney's school story its comic start.

Charitable work carries the novel beyond Madame's boarding school. The girls' Home of the Elder Brother draws attention to children living in crowded New York housing and to the difficulties faced by working families. Champney's introduction connects the fictional Home to a real charity founded with children's help. Alongside school mischief and friendship, the story includes a family mystery involving a newspaper report and a long separation. These strands give readers a view of how a school story connects friendship with practical service and concern for poverty.