by Kate Seredy
First published 1990
Jancsi has earned the right to manage his own cattle herd on the Hungarian plains. His cousin Kate now thinks about attending village dances and wears layers of petticoats like the grown women. At Peter and Mari's wedding, Kate appears so transformed that Jancsi barely knows her. She watches him ride his favorite horse and sees he has lost his boyish ways. Their childhood ends abruptly when Hungary enters the Great War. Jancsi's father must join the army and march off to battle. The two cousins face responsibilities they never imagined. They must run the entire farm while caring for an expanding household of family members seeking safety. Russian soldiers arrive needing shelter. German children orphaned by the war find refuge at their door. Jancsi and Kate discover that growing up means more than managing livestock or wearing fancy clothes. They must become the steady center that holds everyone together when the world falls apart around them.
Genres: family-life, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: Hungarian Plains, Village
Period: Great War, World War I
247 pages · Library Binding · Turtleback Books