Before Scarlett: Girlhood Writings of Margaret Mitchell

Discovered one sultry summer in an Atlanta basement full of sixty years' worth of accumulated debris, the writing of a young Margaret Mitchell reveals a prodigious and inspirational talent for such a young girl. The writer, who would later pen the bestselling book of all time after the Bible (and one that still sells over 200,000 copies every year around the world), was a precocious, imaginative, headstrong, female rebel who was, despite her disposition, as distracted by everyday concerns about parental approval and social insecurities as any child. Nevertheless, as shown in the pages of I Want to Be Famous, Margaret Mitchell was amazingly talented and displayed this through her writing of letters, journals, short stories, and one-act plays (later staged in her midtown Atlanta home). From westerns and shipwreck tales to stories of scalawags and musings on her best friends and boys, Mitchell demonstrated a finesse for challenging authority and striking out on her own-personality traits not surprising for the society debutante who was later rejected by the Junior League of Atlanta because of a racy dance she performed at one of their "balls," and an author who would later cope with the pressures of international fame measured against her personal mission as a major philanthropist for African American causes in racially divided Atlanta. Mitchell's is a story of youthful independence and talent; the real story of "girl power" long before its modern-day popularization. Fully illustrated and including 28 recently discovered writings, this collection is perfect for any young or teenage girl who aspires to be a writer.