Life for six-year-old Annie Dorawa on Winding Valley Farm—just down the road from the Pellowskis’ “first farm in the valley”—is busy and happy. Then one day, Annie hears her father speak about not planting that year, but instead moving into town. Is it really possible that they might leave their beautiful farm? What could her father be thinking about? This new anxiety, along with that inner imp of mischief always threatening to get her into trouble (and which finally does when brother John is killing chickens at the chopping block), hover over Annie as she works and plays with her sister and five brothers immersed in the vigorous life of their American-Polish community. Despite the discovery that life is not always easy or as she’d like it to be, Annie begins to realize what warm security is to be found in a hardworking family rooted in faith and love.

Wisconsin, 1908.