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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Before skyscrapers and subways, a little girl's world unfolds in Manhattan's streets, parlors, and neighborhoods.
In A Little Girl in Old New York, Amanda M. Douglas follows a young heroine growing up among her family and neighbors. Home life and small events carry the story forward. The stakes are quiet but personal: everyday life tests her character as she moves beyond childhood.
Old Manhattan is more than a backdrop. Its streets, parlors, and neighborhood life shape this gentle coming-of-age story. Douglas tells it in a plain, friendly voice, with time for manners and domestic concerns. The pleasure lies less in a racing plot than in watching a girl's world take shape.
What you’ll discover
- Manhattan before the towers Explore a city pictured through its streets and homes, before skyscrapers and subways.
- A childhood close to home Follow a young heroine whose family and neighbors form the heart of her world.
- Small moments that matter Discover a domestic story where everyday events give character room to reveal itself.
- The work of growing up Watch childhood open toward a fuller life, with questions of character along the way.
- A kindly storytelling voice Settle into Douglas's unhurried prose, warm feeling, and steady attention to ordinary life.
Who will love it
If you enjoy warm family stories, old-fashioned childhood games, and everyday life in nineteenth-century New York, this book is for you. It offers gentle humor, close neighbors, and a heroine who thinks deeply about small things.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Home travels with the family
- Clothes cannot measure a kind heart
- The past lives in people's memories
- Calm company answers a child's fear
- An adventure leaves the family waiting
- Gentleness can stand beside courage
- Friends help Charles find his voice
- Friendship makes room for Daisy
- Questions reveal the feelings beneath events
Who’s who
- Hannah Ann UnderhillThe youngest Underhill child, called the little girl, who is thoughtful, truthful, and curious, and wants to understand the big, strange city her family has moved to.
- Vermilye UnderhillHer merry, easygoing father, who adores his youngest daughter and wants the family to be happy in the city.
- Margaret UnderhillHanny's older sister, called Peggy, who studies music and French at school and cares for her little sister tenderly.
- Jim UnderhillHanny's lively, quick-tempered brother, who loves games and boyish mischief and is always ready to defend his family.
- Benny Frank UnderhillA gentle, bookish brother who hates fighting and dreams of becoming a newspaper man.
- Charles ReedA neat, shy boy with a beautiful singing voice, kept strictly by his mother, who longs for friends and music.
- Daisy JasperA crippled girl with golden hair who is lonely and afraid of being stared at, and learns to enjoy friends.
- Lily LudlowA pretty, proud girl from down the street who wants to climb in society and teases Hanny.
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A Little Girl in Old New York
by Amanda M. Douglas · 1896
A seven-year-old farm girl in a brown dress meets the streets of New York, and the girls there laugh at her.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“I must consider it.”
In short
What happens when a farm girl who has never worn a short dress is carried into the middle of a big city? Amanda M. Douglas answers in A Little Girl in Old New York, a gentle novel for young readers, written in 1896 and set from 1843 onward.
A Little Girl in Old New York at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 25 min4 h 15 min fast, 6 h 25 min slow
- Length
- 77,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1896by Amanda M. Douglas
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A farm family weighs a move to the city
The book opens with a question from a father to his youngest child. How would she like to go to New York to live? Hannah Ann Underhill, past seven, sits on a stool in the farmhouse at Yonkers, sewing a patchwork quilt. She studies her father's face to see whether he is making fun.
She says moving is a lot of trouble and she must consider it. The reasons for leaving are practical. Farming no longer pays well, Stephen already works in the city, Joseph is studying to be a doctor, and John wants a trade. Her mother, sharp tongued but loving, hates the idea. Her father promises they can come back if they are homesick.
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Which edition is right for me
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Details
- First published
- 1896
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Douglas, Amanda M. A Little Girl in Old New York. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-little-girl-in-old-new-york.
Douglas, A. M. (2026). A little girl in old New York. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-little-girl-in-old-new-york (Original work published 1896)
Douglas, Amanda M. A Little Girl in Old New York. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-little-girl-in-old-new-york.
@book{douglas2026little,
author = {Douglas, Amanda M.},
title = {A Little Girl in Old New York},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-little-girl-in-old-new-york},
note = {First published 1896}
}
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What is A Little Girl in Old New York about?
It tells of Hannah Ann Underhill, the youngest of eight children, whose family moves from a Yonkers farm to Manhattan in 1843. Through school, friends, family parties, and neighborhood adventures, she grows from a shy country girl into a thoughtful young city child.
Why is the main character called the little girl?
Hannah Ann is the youngest in a large family, born when her brother Jim was nearly five. Her father and others began calling her the little girl, and the name sticks, because her other names, such as Hanny and Hanneran, seem less fitting.
Is A Little Girl in Old New York a true story?
It is a novel, though Douglas draws on real places, events, and customs of the 1840s. The Millerite expectation of the world's end, Tom Thumb at Barnum's Museum, Mayor James Harper, and the great fire of 1845 all appear. The Underhills are invented.
The author
Amanda M. Douglas
1831–1916 · American novelist
U.S. writer.
“I must consider it.”
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