HERE'S a novel that truly warms your heart—a poignant, honest, down-to-carth novel about a man who tries to build happiness and security for his children. After his wife died, Sam Crockett decided that it would not be fair to his three young sons to bring them up in the crowded city. So he and the boys and Grandpa Firth moved to a farm—and that's where their problems began. First of all, the soil had been badly worn out, and while Sam wasn't afraid of hard work and he had good ideas about reconditioning the land, what would support them meanwhile? To solve this problem, Sam agreed to build a pasture fence for his neighbor, Rod Murray. That started some real trouble! Then Grandpa just couldn't seem to adapt to new ways; in his day, there hadn't been any fences, and men took the law into their own hands. So Grandpa got on the wrong side of a fence—and of the law—and nearly brought disaster to all of them. As for the boys—well, there was plenty for Sam to worry about there! Steve was shy and easily hurt. Chuck was too impulsive and daring. And three-year-old Yo-Yo, so engagingly affectionate and imaginative, he was really still a baby, and to be so cocky and adventurous was sure to lead him into danger—which is exactly what happened. Sam did his best for his boys, and he was a good father, but in the end, Steve and Chuck and even Yo-Yo had to fight their own battles. When Sam met Ann Murray, Rod's pretty sister-in-law, Sam knew yet another heartache. How much he needed the love of a woman like Ann, but Ann was engaged to marry a doctor in the city, so Sam had to try to bury his feeling for her. For a while it looked as though coming to the farm was a sad mistake, as though Sam were to be engulfed by loneliness and despair. But courage and determination—and above all, a love that grew stronger in adversity—won over almost impossible odds. For this is a story of triumph-of Yo-Yo's gallant victory; of the big strides Steve and Chuck took towards growing up; of the wonderful discovery Grandpa made about life; of the score for justice that Sam chalked up against Rod Murray; and of the happy conquest that was in store for Sam and Ann. It's a warm, human story with zestful humor, tender romance, loveable, lifelike characters, and a fine understanding of a father's relationships with his sons. There's also a refreshing feeling for nature, and the same simple, poetic beauty in the writing that made the author's previous book, Hound-Dog Man, such a critical and popular success. The Home Place is a book the whole family will enjoy and find well worth returning to—it has an enduring as well as an endearing quality.