If Kit Kittredge were an aspiring journalist today, she'd probably want to be a TV anchor or a blogger who scoops the big boys. But she lives in the 1930s, so her goal is to be a newspaper reporter, her dream to see her stories in print.

In these challenging times, the newspaper industry could use a reel role model, especially one played by an Oscar nominee such as Abigail Breslin.

The "Little Miss Sunshine" actress stars in "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl," the first big-screen film based on the wildly popular American Girl dolls, books and accessories. The adaptations with Samantha, Felicity and Molly were made for television, but this one, with Breslin in a chin-length blond wig, arrives in theaters today.

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'Kit Kittredge: An American Girl'

2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

• Starring: Abigail Breslin, Julia Ormond, Chris O'Donnell.
• Rating: G for general audiences.
• Web site: 'Kit Kittredge: An American Girl'

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As the movie opens, the Depression is about to upend Kit's world. The tornado that is the collapsing economy in 1934 is churning through Cincinnati, taking homes, jobs and security and leaving soup kitchens, fear and hobos in its wake.

When hobos show up at Kit's house, her kind-hearted mother (Julia Ormond) gives them sandwiches in payment for future work. One of her disapproving guests sniffs, "My husband says let them go hungry, it's the only way to keep them out of town."

When Kit learns that the bank has taken her dad's car dealership, she fears the family will lose its home and that she'll be forced to sell eggs and wear dresses made from feed sacks.

Her father (Chris O'Donnell) heads to Chicago to look for work, and her mother takes in boarders to earn money. Soon, the place fills up with a motley crew, including a classmate (Zach Mills) and his mother (Glenne Headly), a dance instructor (Jane Krakowski), a magician (Stanley Tucci) and a mobile librarian (Joan Cusack).

The 10-year-old girl pursues her newspaper career and tries cracking a string of thefts blamed on the hobos, two of whom she has befriended and who are just a few years older or younger than she is. When Kit's home becomes a target for crime, she and her pals -- including best friend Ruthie (Madison Davenport) -- spring into action.

Director Patricia Rozema and writer Ann Peacock have made a movie that might prompt you to say, with either admiration or astonishment, "They don't make 'em like that anymore."

That's because it can seem as old-fashioned as a 20-cent stamp, but lots of people would welcome the return of the 20-cent stamp. Its peril is mild, its language clean and its mood upbeat, even putting a positive spin on -- yikes! -- children riding the rails.

Kit borders on brattiness when she reminds her father that he promised they would be OK, and now he's heading off to Chicago. Disappointment and uncertainty drive her tears and petulance, but she quickly adapts to communal living and returns to her usual spunky self.

"Kit" opens a window on the past, providing a mini-history lesson through rose-colored glasses and a primer in optimism and compassion. Its portrait of hardship, sadly, may resonate with some moviegoers today.

Surrounded by old pros, Breslin again proves she's as good a young actress as Jodie Foster, Tatum O'Neal or Dakota Fanning. Still, Kit would have been perfectly at home on the small screen instead of the big one, where even she may have a hard time smiling in the face of kung-fu fighters and lovestruck robots angling for girls' time and money.