Judith Gwyn Brown

The six mean Herdman kids lie, steal, smoke cigars (even the girls) and then become involved in the community Christmas pageant.

Longing for a place of her own, a ten-year-old orphan creates a secret home in a deserted cottage in the village of St. Martin's Green.

Maudie, one of a large family growing up in Iowa in the early 1900s, seems to attract nothing but trouble when all she wants is to be noticed for herself; and when a crisis hits the family she finally accomplishes this in the best way possible.