Gittel is reminiscent of many coming-of-age books like Anne of Green Gables and The Little House books. It's not long on plot. It prefers instead to focus on various individual conflicts in Gittel’s life that test her character and teach her various lessons.

The book is strong on character, time, and place. The Borensteins emigrated for their safety but still feel out of place in this rural American country. Gittel has to suffer from insults and threats from other students, particularly Karl Leckner, whose religious antisemitic father takes every opportunity to compare them to demons. Gittel shows her strengths by using witty comebacks and verbally challenging her antagonists. She even describes her mouth as the sharpest weapon that she and her friends, Irene and Emily, have.

In a very key moment, Karl asks her what she and her family have that he doesn't. Gittel wisely thinks of her family’s love contrasted with his father's domineering abuse but doesn't answer back because she is aware that he knows the answer but won't admit it. This shows her depth in knowing when to speak and when not to and that sometimes the best words are those that are unsaid but understood.

Gittel struggles with not only societal conflicts but those within her own family. Her mother is often critical of her plans and actions while dreaming of upward mobility. Gittel questions her grandparents’ Orthodox beliefs and feels that she can't measure up to their expectations. She is competitive with her brother, Ben, who is the quiet pacifistic contrast to his more emotional, volatile sister. The only family member who seems to empathize with her is her father but that's mostly because he isn't as verbal as the rest and raises very little objections towards her choices.

Gittel is a maturing young woman who is fascinated with the American way while her family mostly clings to the tight-knit Jewish community around them. Gittel's closest friends are Emily, the daughter of the richest family in town, and Irene, Gittel’s glamorous friend. She also develops a relationship with Ole Larson, a Swedish-American boy. Through her close bonds with Emily, Irene, and Ole, Gittel develops her interests in singing, dancing, and reading, becoming a well-rounded, talented, highly intelligent young woman with aspirations beyond her family's ambitions for her to marry into a traditional Jewish family. She sees new opportunities in the United States that she wouldn't have had in Europe. She longs to continue her education in high school and college and maybe become an actress or writer despite some of her family's concerns and soft objections.

Gittel nurtures her talents particularly in public speaking in concerts and Chautauquas where she quotes the poems, “The New Colossus” and “Little Orphant Annie.” The latter is particularly memorable since Gittel has to recite the poem in an Irish dialect. She also admires such people as Mary Pickford, humanitarian Jane Addams, and particularly Emily Dickinson. Gittel often quotes Dickinson’s poems about nature and solitude during emotional moments. It gets to the point where Ben sarcastically refers to Dickinson as “Gittel's friend, Ed.”

The most heartwarming moments are when Gittel and her family come to an understanding about her aspirations and interests and she recognizes their own adaptability as well as her own. She recognizes loving bonds which while hidden and not always expressed out loud, but are always felt. Her mother names her newborn daughter, Gladys, after Mary Pickford’s real name. After a death in the family, Gittel and her grandmother read and quote Emily Dickinson back and forth. She also finds an opportunity to pursue her interests even if it means leaving Mill Creek.

Gittel is the Yiddish word for “good” which is a decent description of the book. However, it's more than good. Gittel is great.