Mavis Elizabeth Betterly – May B. lives on the Kansas prairie with her family. May really wants to be a teacher someday but struggles with reading and the new Teacher makes her feel incapable of learning. May is told by her parents, she can help the family by working for a neighboring family, the Oblingers, but she will be living with them 15 miles away. May doesn’t want to go and doesn’t feel welcome when she arrives. When Mrs. Mrs. Oblinger leaves and Mr. Oblinger follows her, May is left alone. At first she doesn’t mind being free to do as she pleases, but eventually she realizes she is on her own, and Pa is not coming to get her until Christmas. Can she make it on her own until then? Recommended by: Donna Jo Cody Librarian New York USA