Well known for their intricate picture books that largely focus on the rhythms of rural America (River Town; Prairie Town), the Geiserts here expand their repertoire with fiction in the same thematic vein. It's summer in 1954 South Dakota, and 10-year-old Rachel, the third of four daughters, dislikes the difficult chores she and her sisters are assigned on the family's farm. Worse still, she seems to make mistakes at every turn, earning the disapproval of her impatient taskmaster father. But when her mother faces a medical emergency and Rachel is the only one around, Rachel at last proves to her father—and herself—that she is both dependable and competent. The text shares the thorough attention to detail that characterizes Arthur Geisert's art. Occasionally, the author slows the pace with painstaking passages about stacking hay or repairing fences, but on the whole she builds a strong sense of time and place. Some flashes of drama and the realistic expression of sibling rivalry create a quiet momentum. Finished art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. (Mar.)
