Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls by L. Frank Baum

At a tense patriotic mass meeting in Dorfield, Colonel James Hathaway calls on the town to buy Liberty Bonds, and his granddaughter Mary Louise Burrows watches proudly as the crowd is stirred to action. The drive is nearly lost when the controversial German-American clothier Jake Kasker denounces the war even as he declares loyalty to America, then shocks everyone by buying bonds himself. His gesture breaks the deadlock, but suspicion and resentment linger, and Mary Louise begins to see that wartime loyalty is tangled with prejudice, fear, and civic duty. When her grandfather is left exhausted and discouraged, Mary Louise resolves to protect him and take charge. She forms the "Liberty Girls," a lively band of young women in patriotic dress who sweep through Dorfield selling bonds with charm, pressure, and determination. From bank offices to mills and storefronts, they win subscriptions through wit and courage, even confronting hard-headed businessmen like Mr. Chisholme and outspoken opponents such as Silas Herring. As their campaign succeeds, their Liberty Girls' Shop becomes a social and financial triumph, while Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman uncover a darker web of sabotage, political ambition, and hidden disloyalty beneath the town's patriotic fervor. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.