Aunt Jane's Nieces out West

In 1914 Hollywood, L. Frank Baum turned his wanderer's eye toward the most glittering new dream factory in America: the motion picture industry. Beth de Graf and Patsy Doyle, two of Aunt Jane's nieces, stumble onto a film set where a building is being deliberately collapsed and realize with horror they've become unwitting extras. This collision between innocent bystanders and cinematic spectacle becomes the springboard for a surprisingly thoughtful debate about whether films might teach children valuable lessons rather than merely entertain them. Uncle John Merrick, the series' beloved guardian, arranges for the girls to meet a real director, and soon they're dreaming of producing their own films for young audiences. Along the way, they encounter the Stanton sisters (starlets barely out of girlhood), befriend the mysterious A. Jones (heir to a fictional island), and navigate the sun-drenched chaos of early Hollywood. Baum, writing under his trusty pseudonym Edith Van Dyne, crafts a story that feels remarkably modern in its appreciation of cinema's potential and its quiet faith in young women's capacity to reshape an industry. It's a period piece that reads like a love letter to California's infinite possibility.