A Scott O'Dell Award Winner
An Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award Winner
National Jewish Book Award Winner for Children's and Young Adult Literature
A Newbery Medal Winning Author
Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself - because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of - a woman with a future. Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz relates Joan's journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore, taking readers on an exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; and love and loyalty.
Age Range: 12-17 | Grade Level: 7-12 | Lexile Measure: 810L