This first-person novel records the thoughts of 15-year-old Emma Meade during the fall of 1911 and the following winter and spring. After her brother marries and her mother becomes pregnant, Emma leaves school to help carry more of the workload on her family's Vermont farm. Pleased when handsome Cole Berry begins to pay attention to her, Emma is stung by her father's refusal to let anyone court her so young. The tone of the writing and the realistic details of everyday life and social conventions reflect the period setting, while Emma's thoughts and emotions will strike a sympathetic chord with today's readers. In the appended note, Hurwitz comments on the period, her research, and what elements of history made their way into the fiction. Historical figures Grace Coolidge and Wilson (Snowflake) Bentley have minor roles in the narrative. Azarian, who illustrated the 1999 Caldecott Medal Book, Snowflake Bentley, contributes small pictures that head some of the entries. A quiet, satisfying historical novel. Carolyn Phelan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved