Georgina of the Rainbows

This is the book that opens with false teeth flying into a fire. That's how Annie Fellows Johnston chose to begin Georgina Huntington's story in 1916, and it tells you everything you need to know about the kind of book this is: gently mischievous, steeped in the particular magic of childhood memory, and utterly unafraid of oddball detail. We meet Georgina as a toddler in her highchair, watching the world with that particular intensity only children possess. Around her gathers a cast of warm, eccentric figures: the Towncrier who brings stories and companionship, young Richard with his thirst for adventure, and Mrs. Triplett, the steady housekeeper who tends to her. Johnston renders the small seaside town with the specificity of someone who understands that childhood is made of hundred tiny moments that somehow become everything. It's a book about how we become ourselves, one strange, funny, tender memory at a time. Perfect for readers who love early 20th-century children's literature, nostalgic family stories, or anyone who remembers how enormous the world felt when they were small.