Hank, having come west on an orphan train to live with a disagreeable couple on a farm in Nebraska, tries to endure his miserable existence and thinks about running away, as his older brother did.

Ted Hammond, the only sixth grader in his small Nebraska town's one-room schoolhouse, searches for clues to the disappearance of a homeless family. Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one

Despite Del and her sisters' best-laid plans, the future-and RJ-might surprise them all-- Delphinium Nielsen and her sisters have accomplished much in the past year, traveling west and settling in Nebraska. They are on their way to building a garden in dedication to their mother and working against the forces of nature to make their farm thrive. However, none of that can mask their concern that they are quickly running out of money. Del's work teaching...