Understood Betsy

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann lives in a city with her doting great-aunt Harriet and Aunt Frances, who have raised her to believe she is delicate, nervous, and easily overwhelmed. When Harriet falls ill and must move to a warmer climate, Elizabeth Ann is sent to the one place her aunts always dreaded, the Putney farm in rural Vermont. There her plump Aunt Abigail and capable Cousin Ann feed her heartily and simply expect her to pull her weight, and the newly nicknamed Betsy learns to cook, tend animals, walk to school alone, and manage small crises on her own. Season by season, the demands of farm life reveal a strong, resourceful child hiding under the frightened one.