Sissy, daughter of the town doctor, often helps her father as he ministers to the people of Tenmile, a poor mining town in Colorado. At age thirteen, sometimes this work is a heavy burden, especially when it involves her school friends or their families. When one of her best friends, Jack, has to leave school and go down into the mine, it’s hard for them both, but when he is badly injured, it really drives Sissy to examine the lives of young people in Tenmile. She is hired as a tutor for the son of the mine owner, and this brings a new perspective. Sissy finds ways to help many people in the town in surprising ways.

Sandra Dallas has written a very effective and compelling story that will give young readers a real taste of what it would be like to live in a mining town in Colorado in the late 1800s and the problems young people faced. The writing is excellent and shows the author’s fine research through period-appropriate language and issues. The characters are well-rounded and believable, and the masterfully rendered setting nearly becomes another character. Fans of historical fiction will love this book.