Imogene is the ultimate history buff, who “finger-painted an accurate map of the Oregon Trail” as a preschooler. Her passion drives her to spruce up the town’s neglected Historical Society house and offer tours, but the townspeople aren’t interested. In fact, the announcement that the house will be torn down in order to build a shoelace factory creates little concern. In despair, Imogene wanders through the old building one last time and discovers a parchment note thanking the homeowner for hospitality, signed by “Your humble and obedient servant, G. Washington.” Her determination revitalized, Imogene locks herself into wooden stocks on the house’s front steps, keeping the bulldozers at bay and garnering attention all the way to the White House. Imogene’s strong stance and proactive behavior is kept from becoming too earnest by a convenient (and unlikely) denouement and her liberal use of famous quotes from U.S. history, from John Paul Jones to Martin Luther King Jr. (Ages 6–10)