“Sunday afternoon was clear, and the snow-covered prairie sparkled in the sunshine.”

From Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House: These Happy Golden Years.

After being offered a temporary position as a school teacher at a settlement twelve miles from home, fifteen-year-old Laura Ingalls is nervous to be away from home for the first time, but she is determined to make the situation work to help her family be able to afford her sister, Mary’s tuition at the school for the blind. Moving into a small shanty near the school she’ll be working at, Laura is ill-prepared for the cold winter, and she faces many obstacles from some fellow boarders and several students. However, when the kind Almanzo offers to make the trip each week, Laura is able to spend the weekends at home with her family. The weekends at home allow Laura to seek teaching advice from Ma and grow more confident and successful at her job. Once she finishes her teaching assignment, Laura returns home, but she and Almanzo continue to spend time together. As Laura continues with her studies and work, Mary graduates and returns home. Almanzo proposes to Laura several years after beginning their romance; Laura accepts with uncertainty to her true feelings, but realizes through Almanzo’s temporary absence how much her love has grown for him.

The eighth book in the Little House series sees a definite shift for the characters, especially Laura as she moves from childhood into young adulthood. The genuineness of the characters and the gently-developing story act as the book’s driving force, which helps the reader connect with the often-forgotten way of life from the past. These Happy Golden Years is a sweetly inspiring story that will keep readers engaged with the series and ready to jump into the next book.