Loretta Stanowski, known as Rettie in her neighborhood, lived in the tenements of New York City's Lower East Side in 1918. With her father away fighting in World War I, and her mother sick with consumption, it fell to nine-year-old Rettie to take care of the home, and of her three younger siblings. Determined to make ends meet, Rettie looked forward to the annual Thanksgiving Day "Ragamuffin Parade," in which the poor children of the city were allowed to march the streets, asking for pennies and other treats. This year, however, the terrible influenza outbreak threatened to put a stop to the parade. What would Rettie do, if she couldn't get those all-important pennies...?

Having just recently reread Sydney Taylor's marvelous All-of-a-Kind Family series, set partially on the Lower East Side during this time period, I picked up Rettie and the Ragamuffin Parade: A Thanksgiving Story with anticipation. There is a stray reference, in one of the Taylor books, to street children demanding pennies on Thanksgiving, which now makes much greater sense to me. I had never heard of the Ragamuffin Parade before picking up this book, but I am glad to have had the gap in my education rectified. An engaging work of historical fiction, the story here is part of the Tales of Young Americans Series put out by Sleeping Bear Press, which presents the fictional stories of American youths in various historical periods. I've read a one other - Noble's own The Scarlet Stockings Spy, set during the American Revolution - and enjoyed that as well. I'll have to try to track down others. The engaging narrative here is paired with appealing artwork from illustrator David C. Gardner, and a brief afterword gives more information, including the fact that the Ragamuffin Parade may have been an influence on the founding of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. All in all, an educational and entertaining title, one I would recommend to young historical fiction fans, and anyone interested in children's stories set on the Lower East Side during the 1910s. ( )