A Part of the Sky

Thirteen-year-old Rob, having buried his father, Haven Peck, only two weeks before, begins to shoulder the hefty yoke of manhood, in charge of his work-worn mother and aunt, a cow, an ox, a few chickens, on a hardscrabble five-acre Vermont farm. Months back, knowing that he would survive only one more winter, Haven had warned Rob of a weighty responsibility soon to come: . “It’s got to be you, Rob. Your mother and Aunt Carrie can’t go it alone. Come spring, you aren’t the boy of the place. You’re the man. Because there’ll be nobody else, boy. Just you.” There are more deaths that cut deeply. And the Depression. Yet, fortified by his Shaker faith, Rob remains resolute to retain his home and his humor. And then…romance strikes. Becky Lee Tate volunteers to attempt the improbable, to teach Rob dancing and how to cope with English class. He worries about missing both school and bank payments, determined to hold onto Haven’s meager legacy, to plow, sow, and reap where his father had farmed. This worthy sequel to A Day No Pigs Would Die unfolds with brutal drama and enduring strength.