By age nine, Mary Ellen could start a fire and make breakfast for her family on the Great Plains as they traveled West. By age 11, Connie's family had her hanging the laundry and doing the dishes for a dozen people. By age 13, Beverly had no responsibilities at home and no confidence in herself. The portraits of 14 girls aged 6 to 14, when their ideas of duty and self remained in flux, are used as a starting point for discussion on how to bring daughters and their brothers back into the flow of American home life. The author explores how Americans might make girls feel essential on the...