This is another in the American Girls Short Stories series about Kirsten Larson, a nine-year-old girl from Sweden, whose family has moved to frontier Minnesota of 1854. In this book, Kirsten's father is spending the winter as a lumberjack, to earn extra money for the family. Kirsten helps too, by helping her brother Lars trap animals to sell their pelts. However, when Kirsten's heart overrules her head she brings home a raccoon. Disaster follows that ruins the family's fortune, but Kirsten learns that even through adversity things can turn out well.
This is another wonderful story, that captured my nine-year-old daughter's heart, and my own. With each review I heap praise on Renee Graef's illustrations, and this one is no exception; the illustrations are fantastic. If you have a young daughter, then you must consider buying the Kirsten books.
[For those adults interested in reading a scholarly book on the Swedish immigrants, please consider reading Swedish Exodus by Lars Ljungmark.]