Doing Her Bit
German and Anglo-American Girls' Literature of the First World War
in Girlhood Studies
This article examines sixteen works of girls' literature published in Germany, Great Britain, the United States and Canada during or immediately after the First World War. When examined together, these books reveal much about expectations and opportunities for girls at a time when gender roles were in flux. Their overriding message, however, is contradictory, for even as a girl is exhorted to serve her country, her gender places clear limits on what she can achieve.