Mother Carey's Chickens

"When Captain Carey went on his long journey into the unknown and uncharted land, the rest of the Careys tried in vain for a few months to be still a family, and did not succeed at all. They clung as closely to one another as ever they could, but there was always a gap in the circle where father had been. The only thing to do was to remember father's pride and justify it, to recall his care for mother and take his place so far as might be; the only thing for all, as the months went on, was to be what mother called the three Bs -- brave, bright, and busy."

Can mother Nancy Carey find happy futures for her daughters Nancy and Kitty in turn-of-the-century Beulah, Maine?

Perhaps? But for certain, she finds some wonderful characters and sparkling moments of Gilded Age Girl-Power

This heart-warming classic novel of a better time by the author of "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" was the basis for Disney's 1963 film "Summer Magic" with Hayley Mills.