Grade 4-7-A swiftly moving novel set in small-town Colorado during the Great Depression. Twelve-year-old Agnes, her parents, and her younger brother and sister all do their part to keep the family dairy going as they struggle to make up for the loss of the oldest son who has run away to greener fields. Duey works in the mundane details of operating a small dairy and admirably conveys the emotional strain a family feels as bankruptcy looms over them. She also keeps the pages turning as events unfold in an almost melodramatic way: Mr. Gleason steps on a nail and has to go into town to the doctor; an elderly neighbor calls for help birthing a recalcitrant calf; and, when Agnes's parents must remain away overnight to tend to her father's injury, the girl decides that she and her siblings can bottle up and deliver the evening's milk with the wagon. Ingenuity and spunk almost turn into disaster when the horses get away from the children and gallop toward the center of town. Duey keeps Agnes's characterization in the forefront, even when the plot seems a bit too exciting to be likely. Add to this the unusual setting and well-drawn minor characters, and the result is a solid addition to historical-fiction collections.-
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Children's Book Review These exciting stories...are wonderful examples of how engrossing historical fiction can be in the hands of a writer who treats the past not only with respect, but imagination.
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