"It is 1914. Katie lives with her widowed mother and four older siblings on the edge of a coal mine near the river. Her young life is about to change. She must start school one year early so Mama can work fulltime. Katie speaks Russian, but she hardly knows any English words. She's shy, she doesn't know any other chikdren in the first grade, and she's a year younger than everyone else. She wants to be brave and help her family. Can she do it?"--Page 4 of cover.