Metacritic reviews

Just about perfect for its target audience, and more than that. It has a great look, engaging performances, real substance and even a few whispers of political ideas, all surrounding the freshness and charm of Abigail Breslin, who was 11 when it was filmed.

Anchored by a fine performance from Abigail Breslin, this wholesome, engaging entertainment offers something for viewers ages 7 to 107.

It's fun, fast-paced, educational entertainment that's fit for the whole family -- American boys included.

It's not only fresh and unassuming, but a film that serves, very nicely, the severely underserved audience of young girls.

A crime wave gives the heroine a mystery to solve and provides most of the comedy, but the film is stronger in its dramatic stretches.

In Kit’s world the absent father (a familiar theme from girls' novels including "Little Women" and "A Little Princess") is an epidemic, and the picture makes this the impetus for children's resourcefulness and emotional development.

Strictly a kids' movie--brimming with easy-to-swallow life lessons.

This sweetly enjoyable family film stars the endearing Abigail Breslin as Kit. And, refreshingly, it's actually about something -- the Great Depression -- and tackles such serious issues as prejudice, poverty and homelessness.

Based on several American Girl stories about a 1930s cub reporter in Cincinnati, this dull theatrical debut especially disappoints because I'm usually fond of square, sepia-toned, period-costumed kids' movies (like Fly Away Home) that go nowhere at the box office.

By the time it reaches an action-packed finale that's choreographed like an ancient Keystone Kops short, Kit Kittredge has cornered the market on bland.