Mama is widowed, with two children and no job prospects. She decides to start a school out in the gold fields but is shortly and firmly disabused of all her city slicker notions. The story is narrated by Ann Katherine, who is a nicely written young teen. Her younger brother is the bane of her existence, naturally. The Wild West flavor is pungent and gamy and it feels very real. I wonder if Beatty wasn't a closet Betsy-Tacy fan, as the hired girl has an extraordinary hat and is Swedish, stout and single. Coincidence? Maybe.

A little iffy in its treatment of Native Americans, though no doubt historically accurate. Also some interesting (historically accurate) bits about the Chinese not being welcome in the gold fields of Idaho. The essential wrongness of the treatment of the Chinese is stressed quite strongly. Not so much with the treatment of the Natives, sadly. ( )