Ethel Hollister's Second Summer As A Campfire Girl

Ethel Hollister's Second Summer as a Campfire Girl is a coming-of-age novel that follows a young girl's emotional and moral development through her experiences in the Camp Fire Girls setting. The story centres on Ethel Hollister, a sheltered and privileged girl whose worldview begins to change when she is exposed to a simpler, more community-oriented way of life during a summer away from her socially ambitious mother. The narrative explores her gradual transformation as she forms friendships, confronts differences in social class, and learns the value of humility, cooperation, and personal responsibility. Through her interactions with other girls, she encounters situations that challenge her assumptions and encourage emotional maturity, loyalty, and empathy. The novel emphasizes the importance of character building through shared experience and outdoor life which reflects early 20th-century ideals about youth education, social development, and moral instruction. Ultimately, it presents growth as a process shaped by friendship, hardship, and self-reflection.