Melissa Peterson

"Laura Ingalls and her dog, Jack, have been together for as long as she can remember--and he's no ordinary dog. He travels with Laura and her pioneer family all the way from the Big Woods of Wisconsin to the West. He protects them from wolves, cattle that go astray, and sometimes even a friendly neighbor. And he can always help Laura find her way home"--Back cover.

Set against the backdrop of a decaying Pacific Northwest lumber town, Vera Violet is a debut that explores themes of poverty, violence, and environmental degradation as played out in the young lives of a group of close–knit friends. Melissa Anne Peterson’s voice is powerful and poetic, her vision unflinching.
Vera Violet recounts the dark story of a rough group of teenagers growing up in a twisted rural logging...

As he grows up on his family's farm in New York, Almanzo Wilder dreams of having a colt of his own.

Laura helps out on the family farms in the Big Woods and on the prairie.