Kit Kittredge: An American Girl - Summer 2008 Blockbuster

The film is based on the American Girl "Kit" book series. Abigail Breslin (seen in Nim's Island and nominated for an Academy Award for Little Miss Sunshine) stars as Kit, whose spunk and wit help her save her family's home from ruin during the Great Depression.

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is directed by Patricia Rozema, who also directed Mansfield Park. The screenplay is by Ann Peacock, who wrote the screenplay for The Chronicles of Narnia.

In the film, 9-year-old Kit is an aspiring reporter. She has a soft spot for strays - as evidenced by her affection for Grace the dog and for hobos Will and Countee. Kit's happy life changes quickly when her father loses his job and has to leave the hometown of Cincinnati to look for work. Kit and her mother are left to tend the home fires. They grow their own vegetables and take in a string of colorful boarders.

When a series of crimes sweep Cincinnati, all eyes turn towards the "hobo camp" where Will and Countee live. Kit the reporter decides to stay at the hobo camp herself, and writes a sympathetic story based on the realities of life there. However, soon the Kittredges are victims of the crime spree as well, and Kit's loyalty is tested as Will is accused of the crime.

The Kittredges are facing homelessness themselves as their home is threatened with foreclosure. But ever the quick thinker, Kit and her friends decide to solve the crime themselves. The plot they uncover rocks Cincinnati and the regions beyond!

As one of the top 15 publishers in the nation, American Girl is famous for blending history with fiction in a way that makes learning fun for girls. Since 1986, the company has sold more than 123 million books and 14 million American Girl dolls. Its American Girl magazine is the largest magazine in the country dedicated exclusively to girls ages 8 and up.

Beginning in 2004, American Girl ventured into films with Samantha: An American Girl Holiday. Movies about characters Felicity and Molly have followed.

The Kit movie needed girls to be neighbors and classmates. Where better to look than at an American Girl Place store? Sure enough, open casting calls were held at the three American Girl Place stores in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Hundreds showed up, waiting hours for a chance to audition. Some of these girls are actually seen in the movie.

The movie, set in Cincinnati in the 1930s, was actually filmed in Toronto.