244F: Sisters, friendship, and paper dolls

Two sisters, one late teens/early 20’s and one around 9 or 10. They are poor. I think the way it goes is that the younger sister makes a friend somehow and goes to her house to play or something. The friend is much more well off than the two sisters. The older sister comes to the house of the little sister’s friend also at some point. At the end the older sister and the little sister’s friend’s brother become boyfriend and girlfriend.

The one thing that really impressed me when I read it was that the two little girls cut out pictures of the models in catalogues and made paper doll families out of them and after reading that book my friends and I started doing that as well.
Thanks for the opportunity to say more about the story.  I hope someone else will recognize it.

9 thoughts on “244F: Sisters, friendship, and paper dolls

  1. NANCY

    Thanks for the comments. I do know Betsy/Tracy and of course Betsy/Tracy & Tibb too and love that series but that is not the book I am remembering. And I am not familiar with the Egypt Game but I’m sure that is not the name of the book that I am trying to find. Thanks again and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! 🙂

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  2. celeste

    I have a couple of suggestions. First is The Jennifer Wish by Eunice Young Smith, first in a series. Here’s an earlier Stumper post about these books: http://w1.loganberrybooks.com/stumpthebookseller/?p=2890

    Another book featuring catalog paper dolls is The Pink Maple House by Christine Noble Govan:

    Polly wasn’t sure she wanted to move to the new house for she suddenly realized that she and her best friend, Jenny, would not be going to the same school. They would no longer share the same seat. They wouldn’t be walking home together. How sad life would be!
    However, Polly found that life in the Pink Maple House was anything but sad. The fun of Jenny’s visits more than made up for the daily separation. There were so many new and pleasant experiences to share.
    The Pink Maple House is the story of the childhood of almost any little girl who grows up in the country. The author has caught the feelings, the foolishness, and the anguishes of little girls. Such incidents as the attic adventure, the doll scrapbook, the playing at ‘Indians’ in the barn, the school experiences, the baking of cookies and wrapping of Christmas presents, etc., are not only amusing and interesting, buy heartwarming, satisfying and comforting.
    The Pink Maple House is somewhat reminiscent of Little Women in that it is a family story in which the characters are kindly, natural and sympathetic. The story moves right along for the incidents are believable and the details are those about which little girls especially, enjoy reading.

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  3. NANCY

    I checked out the books above and unfortunately they are not what I am looking for…. thanks for the suggestions! Nancy

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  4. Jeannette

    There’s a book called The Noonday Friends where the girls used to cut out pictures from magazines. I believe they made dolls from them as well, but I may be misremembering. I’m feeling like this took place around The Great Depression.

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  5. Brianna Clark

    It might be one of the Katie Rose books by Lenora Mattingly Weber. I know Katie Rose had a sister and the family was poor. You jogged my memory with your question, and I remember reading that too, but I can’t remember an exact title. The Katie Rose books were probably written in the 1950s or 1960s. Hope that helps!

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  6. Brianna Clark

    Possibly “The Winds Of March”? There’s a couple Katie Rose books but I think this is the one that sounds closest to the one I’m remembering.

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