Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill; or, Jasper Parloe's Secret

This was a really sweet and fun story; I read it about thirteen years ago.
This book stands well by itself. The quality of writing suffers as the series progresses. Sweet Ruth becomes more of a flapper later on, to the point of wanting a career after marriage and motherhood, a very progressive view at the time these books were written. That said, I still love the first book and have read a number of the sequels, some of which are better than others. So far I have found nothing bad or objectionable per se, but often impertinence toward authority is excused. It would be best for conservative girls to read this in the middle teens instead of in preteen years.