It's 1935, Depression time, and the Wildsmith family is forced to sell their sow pig, then their cow, then their beloved hunting dog. Finally, the parents pack up the kids and, without telling them where they're going, leave their Alabama farm. Along the way, Mary Jake is handed a handkerchief with something tied inside, and she is instructed to take the left fork of the road to town, where she is to present the handkerchief at a stone house.So begins the adventure of an abandoned girl who chooses her own path, dyes herself in a stump full of walnut-colored water, and disguises herself as a boy in order to survive. Mary Jake Wildsmith is now Jake Smith, headed for strange and exciting adventures in a very different world.Acclaimed novelist Aileen Kilgore Henderson blends a driving narrative with a gallery of memorable characters - among them the traveling evangelist Miss Celestine and confederate widow Miz Bennett - in this rags-to-riches story of a strong young girl who meets hardship with courage and resilience.