Title: Hannah's brave year
Description: When the six Harelsons are left orphans after their parents die in a cholera epidemic, the general feeling among the neighbors is that the children must be separated and farmed out to various families in the area. But twelve-year-old Hannah has different ideas. The farm that their father homesteaded is a productive one; with the help of her younger sister, Marty, the girls can manage the household; and if Joel goes fur trapping to raise money to pay off the mortgage and Nat runs the farm - why, then, perhaps they can save their home and keep the family together. Reflecting Hannah's courage, the youngsters all join in the effort.

But life on the Missouri frontier was not easy, even for adults, and the children find themselves beset with thieving Indians, a severe blizzard and illness. Further grief is brought upon them when a couple entrusted with the temporary care of their baby sister, Angie, disappears into the Osage country.

With a true pioneering spirit, Hannah learns to cope with a variety of hardships and experiences a well-deserved sense of pride when, with the coming of spring, she realizes that their struggles has been worthwhile. (less)
Subjects: Juvenile fiction, Frontier and pioneer life
Places: Missouri