Sonja jiggled from foot to foot as she eyed the Regulator clock on the kitchen wall. She watched the brass pendulum swing back and forth. "It goes so slow " Finally, the big hand jumped to six. "Eight-thirty I'm going to school." In this third book in the Sonja series Sonja enters second grade. She and her teacher become inseparable when Mrs. Wanker introduces her to the joy of learning and to the fun of marching to the beat of the piano. Sonja learns about Indian Summer and enjoys an old-fashioned Halloween party. She shivers when wind drives a blizzard across the prairie. Sonja is afraid when Grandpa and Daddy argue, and her heart breaks when Daddy and Mama decide to move away from the homestead to their own farm. Exploring the new farm makes the move exciting. Sonja likes soaring on the high swing in the corncrib and is thrilled when she meets new neighbors at a surprise housewarming party. She likes riding behind Daddy on Bob, the spirited black horse. On butchering day Sonja learns how sausage, blood bologna, head cheese, and pickled pig's feet are made. On the last day of school Sonja and her friends watch for rattlesnakes while they explore Pawnee Buttes and the surrounding gullies. Sonja finally discovers that sometimes dreaded things turn out to be alright after all.