My dear Beth, Though Uppsala, Iowa, takes its name from a city in my native Sweden, life here is different from what I have known. With my parents' blessing, I have taken employment in the home of Mr. Bridger, a dairy farmer, caring for his ill mother and two young, orphaned nieces. It is most unlike me to leave home, even in a temporary manner. But the need is great and Hattie Bridger and the children are so endearing. As for Dirk Bridger, he

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Ten-year-old Kirsten is proud and excited when she finds a bee tree full of honey, one of the natural treasures of her Minnesota frontier world, but she exposes herself to great danger by trying to harvest the honey by herself.

Ten-year-old Kirsten regrets the promise she has made to a ragged boy she discovers alone near a wrecked covered wagon not far from her Minnesota home.

In 1854, ten-year-old Kirsten, living with her family in Minnesota, meets a raiding party of Ojibway Indians and finds unexpected help when her dog is in danger.