Margy

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher and librarian in Winnipeg.

Motherless 13-year-old Margy Stratton lives on a farm near Rosser,
Manitoba, during the Great Depression, with her father and his new wife.
After one too many skirmishes with her stepdaughter, the new Mrs.
Stratton decrees that either Margy goes or she will. Margy’s father
decides he must send Margy to Children’s Aid, but Margy is saved from
this fate by her mother’s older sisters, who invite her to live with
them in Bancroft, Ontario. Although Margy resolves to be “very good”
so her new family won’t tire of her and regret their decision, her
irrepressible spirit propels her into several misadventures as she
adapts to an unfamiliar household.

Young readers will enjoy meeting Margy, a likable, believable, and
resilient character. Smith deals with Margy’s pain at leaving her
father and journeying to the unfamiliar in a matter-of-fact fashion and
with a commendable lack of sentimentality.