Thirteen-year-old Austin Hill has never been asked to be a hero. But when his mother dies, leaving him and his younger siblings with a father who has drowned his grief in drink, heroism is exactly what the farm demands. The Hill family farmhouse, once full of warmth, now holds only chaos and quiet desperation. Austin must learn to cook, clean, and comfort his siblings while his father disappears deeper into neglect. This is not a story of dramatic rescues or miraculous fortunes. It is something harder: a boy choosing, day after day, to stay and hold his family together when staying is the hardest thing. First published in 1922, this is historical children's fiction at its most honest, capturing the particular grief of childhoods forced to end too soon.
