Plagued by a monster goose which nips him whenever it gets close and his shame in Pa's disappointment in him, twelve-year-old Hank Heaton hides in daydreams and book reading. What else can he do? He can't make himself grow taller and, now that the cholera has weakened his leg and he finds himself limping, he feels even more inadequate. The disease took away his mother so he doesn't have her to comfort him, to be "coddled" as Pa calls it. Hank's only comforts are his pet cow, Clementine, and Ma's fun-loving, fiddle-playing brother, Uncle Mac. When Pa decides to homestead on land in western Nebraska, Hank rebels at leaving his school and friends. Pa's discipline is quick and painful and Hank has to obey. Unpredictable mid-western weather, stampeding buffalo, and murdering claim jumpers make life miserable on the prairie trail. Hank finds friends in Rusty, a rich southern boy from Missouri; Nora, a teasing eight-year-old girl from Wisconsin; and Moses, an escaped slave. But life really get interesting when he meets another complication to his life, the feisty, red-haired preacher's daughter. Historically correct, this novel takes readers into the exciting and dangerous adventures of a pioneer boy.