The Questing Heart

"Dinny, shy and unsure of herself, was almost relieved when a sudden hailstorm ruined the year's peace crop that was to have paid for her first year at college. The idea of leaving the small island in Lake Erie where she had always lived and of entering college on the mainland was a bit overwhelming, though Dinny supposed she would go eventually. But, meanwhile, there was one more year in familiar surroundings. Without school to take up her time, Dinny was able to help her quietly understanding father in the peach orchard throughout all the seasons, and as she learned to be of practical help, she learned a measure of self-confidence. Then too, a happy friendship with Jeff, a college student doing special research at the island's Biological Station helped her morale greatly. By the end of the following summer, Dinny felt ready to go out into the larger world and meet it on her own terms. Like Mrs. Lawrence's earlier books, Good Morning, My Heart and Along Comes Spring, this warmhearted story for teen-age girls is full of a bubbling sense of life and sound values.