A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get together with relatives or neighbors.

In 1871 Wisconsin, thirteen-year-old Georgia sets out to find her sister Agatha, presumed dead when remains are found wearing the dress she was last seen in, and before the end of the year gains fame as a sharpshooter and foiler of counterfeiters.

Follows the experiences of Caroline Quiner, who will become Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, and her family on their farm on the Wisconsin frontier during the year in which Caroline turns twelve.

After moving with their widowed mother to the home in the woods near Concord, Wisconsin, nine-year-old Caroline Quiner, who grows up to become the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and her brothers and sisters try to adjust to their new neighborhood and new stepfather.