Laura, Almzanzo, and Rose say good-bye to Ma and Pa Ingalls and Laura's sisters. In a covered wagon containing all their possessions, they make their wayacross the drought-stricken Midwest to the lush greenvalleys of southern Missouri.

A year after moving to their farm in the Ozarks, Laura and Almanzo Wilder and their young daughter, Rose, have settled into their new home with a successful vegetable harvest and the beginnings of an apple orchard.

When drought and fire afflict Rocky Ridge Farm, eleven-year-old Rose Wilder and her parents temporarily move to Mansfield and try to adjust to a new life in town.

When Rose moves to Louisiana to live with her aunt Eliza Jane to finish high school, she is exposed to new cultures, politics, and ways of life.