The real world of the Patti Stories. Some topics for discussion

Book 1 Life on the Farm

The real world of the Patti stories

In the first chapter of the first Patti book we are introduced to a reality that definitely has nothing to do with dragons or magic spells. Patti lives and grows in a real world, not in fantasy literature. On her parent's farm a mink has found a crack in the barn siding boards and killed all but one of the baby chickens the family was rearing. Dad and Jamie, her older brother, are staked out, shovels raised, waiting for it to return. And of course the curious creature does return and is killed in its turn. It must be so or it will return sometime later and kill more chicks. Mink will always find a way in. That is the reality of the situation.

Now, is this suitable subject matter for a children's book? Should not the reality of farm life be hidden away? I would say that there are lots of fairly grizzly things associated with farming, the making of food for the rest of us to buy from the meat counter for instance, that really does not need to be dwelt upon, but in this case we do need to meet the family and get a sense of their world. The reality is that these chicks if they had lived and produced eggs for sale would have contributed to the farm income. As both parents already work off-farm in the village bank and sawmill, the gentle farm life we might like to imagine is more a steady struggle to make things meet. And yet they love the farm and the rich experience it provides for their family's life.

The Patti Stories strength lies in the author's skill in capturing the thoughts of children and placing them in realistic situations. And in Patti we have someone who thinks about and learns from her experiences. We all learn along with her.

Two bricks short of a load.

Heather experienced the fire in the hay field pretty much as she wrote it down in chapter two of 'Life on the Farm' but she has given it a certain focus. The hired hand lights a broken bale on fire to get rid of it, a really stupid thing to do at any time by anyone, and this leads to a grass fire. But then, he had been drinking. When dad hears of Maynard's list of problems he does the natural thing, opens his mouth and says that Maynard is “two bricks short of a load” in other words he is not a a shining example of intellectual prowess. Dad is frustrated. He knows he should be home working the farm. He opens his mouth.....

Patti talks this over with mom and gains an insight into her parent's lives.

Perhaps, mom says, it is Dad who feels unable to cope and passes his feelings onto Maynard. Basic psychology that we all meet and deal out ourselves on a regular basis. A useful way to understand the world, to understand her dad and to understand the man who works part time for the family.

In a later chapter Maynard is quick to help a neighbour who has a heart attack. He is not simply a drunk or a know-nothing, he has different qualities, he is a real, complex character, just like we are. Life is complicated, but it is very interesting and as children and throughout our lives we are learning, adjusting and gaining insight.

Patti and Chicky at the Fall fair

Patti talks about bees with Mr. Wallace; how he feels that working with animals is all about understanding what is an animal's natural behaviour and then designing the learning program to fit in with it. Training the human. Patti takes this piece of knowledge and applies it to training her young chicken, the lone survivor of the mink attack that she has been raising, to be a 'Falcon' at the fall fair. Patti has learned a lesson in the first Patti book that she will apply, with a horse in the second book 'Little Guy'. Except, then she will experience the sensation of a horse training her! She has learned, incorporated and applied a basic piece of understanding that will stand her in good stead for the rest of her life. And now we know too .... could this work with our children as well? With our parents? Our teachers?

The problem of Joan.

Patti has a friend called Joan... or at least she associates with this annoying person who shows up sometimes for a short while to play adventure games and then takes off home when Patti wants to play house. One day she goes home to Joan's place and begin to understand why Joan is the way she is.

This is an upsetting chapter because we experience the visit though Patti's eyes. Poverty and illness lurk behind the simple view from the road. Joan, the eldest of several children, spends all her time being the mother and caregiver. At home, she has to be the adult. No wonder she does not want to play house and can never stick around for any serious child play time. This is Patti's aha moment when she grasps Joan's difficult situation and we the readers get it through Patti's experience with the mother, not through explanation.

Perhaps, as is all too likely, we have had a similar experience in our own lives where the unpleasant realities of peoples lives, our relatives or friends, have jarred us into a deeper understanding of life. Patti, being only human, does not change her feelings right away but perhaps we the readers can reach an aha moment about events in our own lives. Aren’t books interesting!

The gravel pit

Patti walks home one winter evening and witnesses a pack of local dogs chasing down a small dog. Blood on the snow. She rushes home to get Jamie to help but it is too late when they arrive back at the gravel pit. This is another Heather memory translated into a Patti story so we cannot say that this could never happen; wolves maybe, but not our local poochy family members surely? Living as we do in sheep farming country we know that this happens here on Saltspring island too. And farmers shoot dogs that harass their sheep.

Patti learns something here for sure, but exactly how that will play out in her life is not obvious. Does she learn that the world is a dangerous and threatening place and she needs to hide? Does she learn that individuals can change when in a pack, or mob? We hope that she will get the balance right and place this experience into a reasonable context that will make her understanding of the world realistic but not threatening. People she will meet will exhibit good and kind qualities and the opposite as well. Put people together and they can achieve great as well as destructive things.

Patti in the maple sugar bush.

Patti gets to help her brother to collect sap from the sugar maples nearby. When Jamie gets hung up while climbing over a barbed wire fence it is Patti who has to take command, get him off the fence and stem the flow of blood. She runs for help and all works out in the end. Except that it is Patti who is no longer junior member anymore but takes over the collecting operation.

So, where did Patti get the smarts to handle this situation? From first-aid classes in Guides or in school? Did her parents set aside some time to teach some important lessons? Perhaps all of this happened but more likely Patti just absorbed all she needed as part of everyday life on the farm and in her community. People were always looking out for each other, there were plenty of accidents large and small that others dealt with in practical ways. If you lived this life you knew how to act when you were called upon. You rescue, you stop the blood flow as best you can using what is at hand and you get help quickly. Patti grew into her life that day, into her role and perhaps into her future responsibilities.

Fighting.

Patti's mum is quite sure that fighting, especially for girls, is not on! So what to do when a little girl who Patti is walking home with is picked on and pushed around by a new, and bigger, girl. Being Patti, she rushes to her defence and the bully ends up in the ditch. Oh, oh, but what will happen when Patti gets home? Will she be in trouble? What was she supposed to do in that situation if not stick up for her younger friend?

Luckily it is Dad who greets his bruised daughter and talks it through with her. Turns out that things are not so simple as “No fighting, ever!” Life presents us with complex situations that cannot always be met with simple prescriptions.

Meeting Little Guy.

Patti has been wishing for a horse all this book long, although she realizes that her struggling farm parents cannot really afford it. Finally she finds that yes, there is a horse available but..... it is injured and may never be ridden, it will still be owned by someone else, but the owner will cover expenses, provide a saddle and tack and so on. All Patti has to do is to agree with all the conditions and do the work. That's the deal.

Patti shows us that she can think for herself, that the streak of individuality that has been growing through this year of her life really can be used to make 'the deal' better in her eyes. She says that this should be based on a meeting with this little horse to see if they can get along. A joint agreement.

It turns out well, she has met a personality not unlike her own in Little Guy.

The next book in the series explores the complexity of their relationship. Patti learns a lot, gets some bruises, and Little Guy....well we,ll just have to read and find out!

Book 2 Little Guy

Little Guy discussion topics.

Ch.1

The story begins shortly after the first book in the series, 'Life on the Farm' ended. We have already been introduced to the quarter horse “Little Guy' and the bargain Patti has agreed to: that she will care for this limping and lonesome horse and hope to ride him sometime in the future. Now we see Patti mucking out stables at the local riding establishment in return for lessons on her friend's pony and are introduced to some of the major themes of this book. It would be tempting to simply class this as a juvenile girl/ horse story, but with Patti we know that is simply the frame upon which the writer will hang some important life lessons.

In the world of the riding stable Patti is in a different social world from her farming community, the world of social class and obnoxious girls anxious to maintain their place on the popularity ladder. How will Patti deal with this? For sure she will meet this many times in the future and she might as well start learning right now. Not that she does so well at first!

Patti wants to win with Little Guy in the Fall Fair but when she realizes her borrowed sick horse will have to be 'put down' ( and what that means) if he does not respond to medication and care ( Patti's care) she realizes that there is more at stake here than showing that snooty Jessica girl up. As she says at the end of chapter one, “ ... winning can mean a lot of different things. Especially for Little Guy – for him it means something different from just going to a horse show, doesn't it?”

Dealing with Jessica is a life issue, but for Little Guy it is a life and death issue. This understanding puts social problems into a larger perspective.

Ch.2 The Farrier

There is one quality of Heather's book that we will meet for the first time in this chapter. Detail. The farrier's visit is not glossed over, we actually get to learn something. We will know so much about horses, about riding and driving a horse in harness before we are through.

This visit from the farrier will set our mind at rest because Patti's sharp eyes coupled to keen attention has noticed that Little Guy's hoof has something different about it and that will turn out to be a stick driven deep into the soft part of the hoof. When it is out we know that there is no progressive disease but an injury and that means healing and the horse will not need to be put down. As Patti thinks to herself:

This summer she realized, the things that seemed most important were always being bumped down the list – first it was going in the Fall Fair, and now it was even getting to ride Little Guy at all. She was constantly being reminded that there were things more important than the things she once thought were most important. Right now, Little Guy alive and free from pain was clearly at the top of the list. She would try to remember that.

If we have been thinking as we read we can see that this thought of Patti's, about what are the real priorities in her life with Little Guy can be applied by her to other circumstances she will meet along the way. What are the most important things in our lives anyway?

Ch.3 Teamwork.

First Maynard and then Joan question the point of Patti and Little Guy going round and round the paddock learning the fine points of riding. “But is it useful”they say in their own ways. Horses on a farm have a job to do. For example they pull wagons, it is practical. Here begins the process of collaboration that will lead to Little Guy ( and Patti) being trained to harness and the finding and rebuilding of a wagon. So many people, from neigbours with old equipment, to Maynard to search it out, to Mr.Anderson, Little Guys owner, her parents, and even brother Jamie and Joan get involved in the project. Teamwork. And teamwork is an important theme in this book, between Patti and her borrowed horse not least of all.

Here the farming life presents an obvious model, neighbours helping neighbours, but then Mr.Anderson seems to have it also and perhaps Patti will learn that the riding fraternity needs it too even though she sees so much competitiveness. What she will learn, with little Guys help, is that little gets done without it and the byproducts are friendship and a sense of purpose.

Ch.4. Trail ride

Patti begins this new phase of her riding training aware that some members of the riding group at the stables are unhappy to have her inexperienced self along, but she soon finds the trail ride on a friend's horse, Bets, with its blend of learning and exhilaration, pushes their mean-spirited attitude aside. In using her newly learned ability to control a horse with her voice, essential for driving in harness ( “whoa”, “walk on”, “stand”), she makes a new friend, Nancy, who finally ends up being throw off her horse and injured.

Patti experiences the thrill of riding on this trail ride:

This was the first time Patti had galloped uphill. She could feel the strength of Bet's legs as they gathered and thrust beneath them, then the smooth steady rhythm that the pony settled into when they reached the gentler part of the rise. She focused on her hands, keeping them low and yet still firm enough on Bet's mouth for her to keep control. She concentrated on her knees and calves too, holding herself firmly in the saddle.

It is Patti, the instructor selects to ride back with a message to call for help, and is congratulated for passing out of the ranks of 'beginner' - she has noticed that Patti has a level head on her shoulders ( And what does that expression mean exactly, because it is an essential part of her character and a theme of these books?)

Although she may not be consciously aware of it, we can see that Patti has applied what she has learned, both in the stable lessons and in her practice with Little Guy. She has even been able to cross what she learned about voice control over into her riding and then apply it in difficult circumstances.

We can see that Carolyn, the instructor, is a good teacher who transfers what she knows of training horses to working with her students. Or perhaps its the other way round, - the Patti books do not make a great distinction between human beings and animals. And that is interesting in itself!

Ch.5  What makes a good bargain?

Patti is training Little Guy in harness, but of course she has no wagon for him to pull when they are finally ready. Maynard finds one in a neighbour's barn and he volunteers to fix it up. And it really needs lots of work. Patti knows Maynard well enough by now to realize that he is snowed under with work already and for all his good will it might take months for the wagon to be ready and she wishes to use it for haying which will be soon. She doesn't want him stressed out either. Thus begins a series of bargains she makes with Jamie and Joan and her dad, some of which conflict, in order to get her ( but not her's any more really ) wagon rebuilt in time.

This business of bargains, how to win without loosing, how to have everyone win really, in order to achieve a positive outcome is what this chapter is all about. Negotiation. Jamie will do the carpentry if Patti will teach him how to drive the wagon, Joan wants to learn too and will help paint it in return, Dad will organize it and get the metal work up to scratch and provide the paint, if he gets to choose the colour scheme ( nothing exotic, please)

The idea that good bargaining empowers and satisfies all parties, is still not universally understood. It is not necessarily about compromise, about some giving up so that others may gain, but may be something different from what was imagined by all parties in the beginning. Patti feels things getting out of her control, but in the end Jamie and Joan will be learning something new that will be good for them and that all three will share. Patti gets to teach others the skills she has just recently learned herself and that is the best way to cement her own knowledge. And Dad? Well perhaps he has the deep satisfaction of seeing these three young people working things out and working together on something challenging. With luck, they will be doing this all their lives.

Ch.6 A matter of dignity.

Dad calls it “ a matter of dignity”, and that is a tricky term to understand for Patti ( and for the rest of us). In this chapter of 'Little Guy' Patti thinks about it and them applies it in another context. Can we think of other words to use and situations where this idea might apply?

Dad tries to explain why he doesn't want a brightly painted 'circus wagon' ( Joan's idea) parked in his front yard. “Its a matter of 'dignity”. In his memory farm buggies were painted in dignified colour schemes, not a whole bunch of colours and squiggles. Patti thinks about this as she and little Guy try out using a farm trail down through the woods instead of going round and round in the paddock.

Joan shows up, but is playing highwayman as an antidote to her adult role at home with her sick mom and three little siblings. As Patti says “Between times, she always forgot – you never actually played with Joan, you were lucky if you just knew she was somewhere in the vicinity!”

When she reaches Maynard cutting poles in the woodlot, she suggests that Little Guy could pull the logs out of the bush instead of using the tractor. They spend a pleasant time doing just that. How pleased she and her horse are to be doing something real.

Patti decides that this was good for Little Guy's dignity, just as not doing a “lick of work” was good for Joan's!

Ch.7 Friends.

The question is, are friends only there to support you? What if they can see you need to smarten up? Should they tell you? Is support only cheering then?

Patti is corrected by Lynne, Little Guy's owner, about some sloppy riding habits, and that hurts. It also hurts when Little Guy swerves and dumps her on the ground!

And yet he works just fine for Jamie, who is still a beginner, right after that. Patti experiments and realizes that Little Guy is no longer covering for her mistakes. He will make her pay for every mistake! Now there is a friend indeed!

Ch.8 Runaway.

Not only does Little Guy carry on with his new tricky habits, trying to catch Patti off guard, but this time he runs away with the wagon in public, in front of the whole haying crew!

Old Mr. Wilson takes the opportunity, once Patti has explained things to him, to suggest that she is no longer a beginner and Little Guy expects her to be his reliable partner in their team of two. “ How about “Hey! You just left me in the lurch! Wake up partner!”That was what he was communicating by running away when Patti's attention wandered.

At what point do we all stop being considered beginners, and having allowances made for our behaviour and become reliable members of a team?

Ch. 9 Workshop. Patti teaches.

There is the usual rivalry to deal with at the riding stable, and Patti is supported by the 'farmy' students in the tack room which is a big help, but Patti also has some special skill up her sleeve; she demonstrates her accomplishments to the riding school group - all she has learned teaching Little Guy to work in harness. Patti feels shy at first but warms to her demonstration. Turns out that Patti can not only learn well, but can pass on what she knows even to a critical audience. And of course that is an important skill that we could all cultivate.

Ch. 10 Time to think. Dealing with our fears.

Assertiveness training for Nancy is what will make her a better rider, but especially after her fall and badly broken leg, she is afraid and that makes things worse. Turns out that Patti has her own fears that get in her way: fears of failure, of ridicule, of what people may say.

“ I feel afraid too sometimes”, she said, thoughtfully. “But for me its always of people, not horses – they might think I'm stupid, or I'm doing something the wrong way. And when I feel like that I usually end up doing the wrong thing!”

The girls make up a game to help Nancy be assertive. Patti plays the horse and Nancy gives her instructions. Any unsureness and Patti goofs off. It is good fun and good training. It shows Patti how much fun it is for little Guy to catch her out when she slips up.

But on the way home Nancy first makes gentle fun of Patti to help her with her particular fear of ridicule, and that is great until Nancy repeats some of the real remarks that the jealous girls at the riding school have said. “You're poor and that is why Lynne and Carolyn feel sorry for you.” And that stings! No matter how assertive and confident we may feel ourselves to be, there are some things that can trip us all up from time to time.

Ch. 11 On the road. Patti gains some insight into a bully.

Patti is still oppressed by the “You're poor and they feel sorry for you.” remark and so when Lynne calls and asks her to come with her to a horse show in a neighbouring town she cannot help but think she has been asked out of pity. They finally sort it out over a pancake breakfast and Lynne tells Patti that while, as in other walks of life, there are many horsey people who help and encourage others, there are also a few who pull people down so they may shine. The snobby and competitive types are always with us.

At the horse show Patti sees her tormenter Jessica in a jumping class and hears the girl's parents being very critical of their daughter. She sees Jessica make a mistake because she is so tense, so aware of her mother's critical attitude and unreal expectations. Patti has a whole new understanding of this pesky girl who is so like her parents and yet suffers from them too. No wonder she tries so hard to pass on to Patti the pain she carries within herself.

The problem is, how much does this understanding help Patti deal with Jessica on a daily basis? Surely it has to help, but it is a difficult problem all the same. But understanding a problem, no matter what it is, is the essential first step to solving it.

Ch. 12 Little Guy's secret. The night before the Fall Fair. Decision time.

Patti is having serious doubts about Little Guy. He still trips her up in the paddock, and she has become a much better rider because of it, but she cannot stand the thought of this happening in the riding competition. How embarrassing! Patti's big fear threatens so much that she may walk away from something she has been preparing for all summer. There are so many people who have helped her get to this moment. Can she let them down? Joan doesn't help either. Shrug, so don't then. See ya.

Mom comes out to the barn to help prepare Little Guy for the big event and privately passes on Lynne's secret message. Don't worry, Little Guy is so competitive he will do everything right!

Whew! How stressful these decisions can be! Even for us readers.

Ch. 13 The Fall Fair

The final chapter! We have been working up to this day for the whole book! Or so it seems, although really each chapter has had its own important place in Patti's life. Her association with Little Guy, Lynne, Carolyn, her friends from the riding school, even her brother Jamie, and Joan, not to forget her parents and Maynard, has shaped her summer and Patti has grown so much - taller maybe, but certainly in terms of her understanding and knowledge. Her new skills have given her more confidence in herself.

Yes, Patti does win first prize in the flat class against some stiff competition, but we can see that it is when both horse and rider are in complete harmony, that the partnership works; that is the important way of winning. Little Guy's insistence on Patti paying attention has payed off in the end.

Later while she watches her nemesis Jessica in the jumping class she realizes that she is rooting for her. Why? As she says to her Mom, you guys would have been happy just to see me riding wouldn't you, but Jessica's parents REALLY care that she should win. I wish for Jessica that she have more fun.

This balance between learning and having fun in play has been an important background theme in this book. Jessica is stressed out by her learning, and Joan's family responsibilities means she claims her right to be on the sidelines at the expense of her own personal development. Patti struggles but finally figures out that learning works best in the context of creative play. Jessica needs more fun and less expectations for herself if she is to perform at her best and not feel compelled to criticize others. Joan needs some relief from her adult responsibilities and a chance to have fun, relax and achieve on her own terms.

And that is a good place to move on to Joan's Summer!

The Patti Stories. Book three: Joan's Summer

Ch.1 Building.

This story will involve itself a lot in building. Building model log cabins and later a full sized one, and in building peoples lives as well. In this first chapter we meet our main character, Patti, working on a school project and her 'friend' Joan who is full of good ideas but short on time. Joan will figure a lot in this book and that is good because up till now she has been a somewhat shadowy figure. Here is a twelve year old girl with 'attitude', whose lot in life requires that she be the adult caregiver to her little siblings and sick mother in a very poor family and still show up for school, mostly. She gets good marks regardless, but her schoolmates are beginning to talk and Patti fears they will talk about her too. Joan's friendship is a bumpy road.

Not so different from circumstances many of us experienced in our own childhoods, so we can sympathize with Patti's struggle even as we have an adult's grasp of Joan's situation. And Patti too is divided, she can see both sides of the problem.

There is a strong theme that runs through this book that is introduced in this chapter - that of dreaming up an idea and then making it happen: Joan is gazing at the model log cabin (that Patti has been working on) and says that it is beautiful...

“ Just think, Joan murmured, as if to herself,“ a new place, a real house. And it started from just an idea in our heads!”....

“Those settlers.... they dreamed it all up and then they did it.”

This is a lovely chapter and a great beginning of a very interesting story, for adults as well for children.

Ch 2.Things fall apart.

It is the day to deliver the model cabin to school, but when Patti phones Joan early there is a problem at the other end of the phone. It turns out that Joan's mother, sick for a long time, has died of heart failure. Patti's parents move into high gear.

Next thing we know Joan has moved into Patti's bedroom and is staying with her family for the whole summer. Patti has a problem with this even though in her desire to help she has suggested it in the first place. Patti can both sympathize with Joan and be angry at this invasion. Joan is not the easiest person at the best of times and this is a very upsetting time for her now. Joan is a big rock that has been tossed into the very center of Patti's quiet pond. No wonder she is agitated!

Mom talks it over with Patti and explains that Joan needs some time for herself right now because otherwise she will be corralled by her father's family into continuing to be the caregiver for the younger children in far away Calgary. This to her Aunt Kate seems unfair for Joan's chances to have an ordinary childhood. Patti listens and agrees. But still, “HOW LONG?”

Mom's reply shocks Patti.

“But you know Patti, we're only doing for Joan what I would hope and trust that someone would do for you and Jamie. If the same thing ever happened in our family.”

Patti stared at her mom, shocked. Did she really think such a thing could happen to us?

Here we have a lot happening that is usually not approached in children's books, but why not? Here is an opportunity to discuss those difficult subjects that are part of life and we have been aware of Joan's mother's heart problems for a long time - this did not sneak up on us. What is reassuring is that there are adults who will step in right away, that there is a way of dealing with these events and that Patti and her family will do the right thing by Joan. Take her in and give her a family home while she adjusts. Life does not end when bad things happen, there is more day to dawn. And that is a very important thing to get across!

Ch.3 Fences.

It is the last day of school, and two weeks into the 'Joan project' for Patti and she decides to have fun with her friends instead of staying beside Joan. She feels both guilty and rebellious. Unfortunately for her she hits a home run over the neighbour's high fence only to find out that this is not allowed anymore. At home things are not going well either, an extra person requires extra adjustments to routines and Joan isn't helping with that either. Finally she bursts out:

And everyone blames me for everything! And it's all because of Joan! Because she's living here!

Has Joan heard this loud and frustrated remark? Patti hopes not but somehow there isn't an opportunity to apologize to Joan. Oh, oh!

Is our Patti being too angry here? We know at one level she does understand the situation, so why the fuss? Perhaps, but then it is all too human to feel one way and think another. Her parents understand her situation but expect her to adjust all the same. They have decided on a course of action and now they must all follow through. Patti is still a kid of course but this is a situation we all can sympathize with no matter our age or maturity. This is a problem but also an opportunity to learn and grow. As they say, we learn from our failures not our successes, and Patti is struggling to not fail too badly.

Ch 4.Running away.

Patti goes off to her first riding lesson of the summer, but Joan was already up and away early this morning so Patti was unable to apologize for her loud remarks of the night before. She has a lovely time at the stables, but ends up thinking about Joan again.

“How could Joan help feeling sad because her mother had died and her brother and sisters were far away in the city. And then Patti had just piled more trouble onto her friend. She had blamed Joan for her own feelings!”

When Patti gets home she finds the family is preparing to search for Joan who seems to have run away, complete with some pots and pans and food. On a hunch, Patti rides Little Guy across the hay field and into the woodlot. Patti wishes that life could just return to normal everyday things like hauling logs out of the forest.

But... but that was a kind of running away too, wasn't it? How much running could a person do? Surely you just had to get on with a problem some time?

We have seen Patti avoiding dealing up front with Joan and as a result having that darned apology dragging along after her all morning long. She has been running away from dealing with it. And then Joan herself has run away in an attempt to deal with her emotional difficulties stemming from the breakup of her family. Patti is working out her place in all this and that is a way of not running any longer.

Ch.5 Enough space.

Down in the woods Patti finds Joan at last and is surprised to find her close to being the old Joan she knew before her mother's death. Joan has a plan! She says that Patti's overheard remarks were true and that she had simply confirmed what she, Joan, had been thinking. Joan is used to being the one who cares for others and living in Patti's family is the opposite of that. She needs to make her own cabin and live independently. And her campsite must be secret!

Poor Patti, she know full well that this idea is not going to be acceptable to her family so she goes home and the family works it out. Patti will camp with Joan!

Patti and Joan spend their first night in the campsite.

“It's a funny thing [Patti] thought suddenly as she wriggled back down into her sleeping bag; only yesterday her bedroom at home hadn't been big enough to hold Joan, herself, and all her things. Yet here they were tonight, together in one little tent – and it didn't seem too small in the least! They were friends again, and that's what made the difference.”

This is an interesting chapter because we see Patti, her parents and brother have a family conference and work out a solution, thanks mainly to Jamie. This family has strong parents who can also work with their children to solve problems. And problems are things we all encounter and can learn from if everyone concerned has the right attitude.

Ch. 6 Thunderstorm

The soaking rain of a summer storm makes camping a wash out, especially as the girls had pitched their tent in a hollow rather than on a hump. Joan and Patti are glad to be in a warm, dry house of course but what happened to their plans to live in the forest and build a stick house? Jamie says that because there are poles left over from the fencing project, his dad says that with occasional help the girls could build a proper log cabin, Heck, they had already built a model one for school so how hard could it be? Will Joan go for this idea? Will she ever!

Sometimes things that get in the way of plans are an opportunity to make better ones. Building a log house may seem beyond the capabilities of two ten-year-old girls, but not absolutely impossible, And if it is possible, then its just a matter of one detail, one step after another, and a strong desire to make it work! And the work too of course.

Ch.7 More storms.

Joan's moods swing up and down and Patti seems to spend all her time trouble shooting but in the end she realizes that Joan is going through a grieving process and all the problem solving and intermediary work with her family that Patti does cannot really make that go away completely. If Joan feels guilty for enjoying herself and being excited about the cabin plans, well there are some things that Patti cannot fix. Time is needed for Joan to rebuild herself and here is the building of Joan's cabin to give her a daily reason to move ahead. Step by step, log by log. Building a cabin is really building a life.

Ch.8 Foundations.

It is finally the time when the rest of the family will come and work for half a day to get the log cabin really started. Dad brings his chain saw and makes the necessary cuts, the sill logs go into place onto the rock foundations that Joan and Patti have already put into place and the corner posts with their long morticed slots are made to be placed upright on top.

Jamie of course wants to try the chainsaw and dad supervises his first learning cuts. What comes out of the short practice piece seems to be a kind of figure with a cone shaped hat. A house gnome, mom says, and gets a secret gleam in her eye.

Joan is so swept up in the excitement she forgets to worry about things. Whew, thinks Patti.

We have learned how to pace off distances in the beginning of this chapter and things just keep on coming at us. We are well into the complexity of designing and building a 'piece en piece' log cabin and there is a lot to take in. But isn't it interesting! Sometimes learning practical, useful information is the very best kind of education. In the back of our minds we all need to know how to make a house, how to cook bannock over a fire, how to use an axe, how to live.

Ch.9 Gnome, sweet Gnome

The work bee continues after lunch. The sill logs are readied for the posts, the plywood floor is nailed into place and then the eight posts are slipped into position and braced upright. The cabin project is now ready for the girls to do the work of peeling the filler logs, cutting their ends and then sliding them down between the posts to make the walls. Once again, in this chapter we learn a lot, but that is not all that it is all about; mom finds time between wheelbarrow loads to work on the Gnome. She is a carver! Who knew? Not her children, because what with caring for them, working at the bank and helping to run the farm she has never felt that she could take time for her own creativity. Dad has a few tears in his eyes when he sees Helen's carving and she says that now she thinks about it that work should not always come ahead of fun. She will make time for herself in future.

How does this relate to Joan? Well, perhaps Joan has not had a lot of time in her life for fun either. Running the family has made her feel guilty whenever she takes short bits of time for creative fun. She has the drive to work and an ability to think and work towards a goal and that pays off. But along with that has come a loss of childhood play time. It has made her different from her fellows and in these present circumstances, living with the Blackburns, her determination not to be coddled and cared for or beholden to others, gets in her way. Patti and her family are working hard to ease prickly, independent Joan through this phase in her adjustment and into a more balanced frame of min

Ch. 10 Rustlers.

Cattle have been stolen in the neighbourhood lately so Dad has moved his two cows down to the field near where Joan and Patti are camping. That night those darn cattle thieves, rustlers, show up. Little Guy warns them and Patti runs through the dark for the police and Joan decides to sneak up ( we know by now that she is very good at this) and get the licence plate numbers of the rustler's truck. Thanks to Joan's risk- taking the thieves are caught and the family will get its cows back.

Mom says though, that Joan took a risk. Joan replies

“You took a chance too. Mrs. Blackburn,”Joan said, tentatively. Then she stopped and looked at mom, and Patti could see she was crying a little bit.

“You took a chance on me. A big chance. I think it's going to turn out ok too – but what if it hadn't?”

Is this chapter just to provide a break from building or does it have a purpose in the Joan story? I think the quote says it all; there is a trust building in Joan's heart for the Blackburns, and a loyalty. Joan can see now what she has gained and how badly things might have turned out for her without their care and her growing ability to find a place in her heart for them.

Ch 11 Pie factory

Over the past while Joan has been 'evening the score' by helping mom with household and gardening jobs and she has helped put up the electric fence as well. Now Patti has heard that Joan will also take time to make a lot of pies for haying time. Patti asks her parents what is going on. Its like Joan is finding excuses NOT to work on the cabin. Its confusing enough to see mom taking all this time to carve the house gnome, she is changing and so is Joan! Patti is confused. Why were they working on the cabin if it was not to finish it?

Her parents ask if Joan is happy, interested in new things and in meeting people. Yes. And was Patti getting something for herself from the cabin project? Yes. And mom is getting a lot from the gnome carving too. Can this be all wrong? Dad and Jamie too are excited by the cabin and are dying to get their hands on it!

On Friday the girls are on their own with a gazillion pies to make. An assembly line! To their surprise, when Jamie shows up for lunch he is able to solve some crust adhesion problems and later sorts out cooking scheduling. Jamie surprises the girls, perhaps because they do not expect the big brother male to know anything about kitchen stuff. What a surprise!

They decide that building a log cabin is more fun and a lot easier than assembly line pie making!

There is a little here about gender roles and expectations. Can girls build a cabin, handle tools? Can Jamie really be helpful in the kitchen? Well of course!

Ch 12 Solutions.

At the stables everyone is excited about going on a twenty mile trail ride and camp out with wagons and horses. That is until the problem of providing meals for all seems impossible to solve in the one week that is left. Patti, problem solver, cannot resist pointing out that Joan has been camp-cooking great food all summer. Before she knows it, it is decided that Joan must come and be the cook. Even the family thinks this is a great idea. It will get Joan out and improve her self confidence before she has to leave to live in the city with her aunt Kate and go to a new school. And besides the cabin project in on schedule, the walls are up and the roof beams peeled and ready for the family roof raising work bee.

Patti is in agony because she remembers Joan as she was in school; this scruffy, independent, non conformist who is her friend! Mixing Joan into Patti's riding stables crowd. Oh no!

Later she goes down to visit Joan in the camp to find her cutting saplings to make hoops so they can turn the open wagon into a covered wagon. A proper chuck wagon. Mom has found some new clothes for Joan to wear on the trail ride and at her new school. Joan says about these new duds...

“No harm in packing them is there? There's nothing to say I have to wear them. ... . If they want me” she said with a glint in her eye, “ they'll have to take me just the way I am!”

Just when things with Joan have settled down we are presented with some new hassles. Patti as we know from the last book has a particular problem with what other people may think about her. Too bad she can't be perfect but that is who she is and it causes her a lot of grief. One compartment of her life with Joan is about to be spilled into the riding compartment. And Joan is unpredictable, how will the trail riders take to Joan? Will this reflect badly on Patti?

We cannot help sympathizing with Joan who has to work with sensitive Patti.

Ch.13 A Proper Cook.

Patti is still concerned about Joan and how she will fit in but the way she handles her worry is to leave her alone with Jamie to hitch up the 'chuck wagon' to Little Guy'. The trail ride through the countryside is perfect and soon they are setting up camp beside a river. Patti goes fishing and when she returns she sees a crowd of campers enjoying Joan's bannock cooking lesson.

Patti eventually sees that she has been worrying about Joan and how that might impact on her own popularity when she should not have. Joan with her unusual background of being in charge of a family ( and cooking for them) is well suited to being camp cook in these circumstances. Patti finally gets it that if Joan is OK with who she is, then why should it bother her.

“ Patti drew a deep breath. She liked this new way of looking at things. Joan was just Joan – why should she have to fit in? Besides Patti had to admit, Joan seemed to be doing very well without any help from her.”

Patti has made a big step in maturity when she realizes that Joan is an independent individual who has a right to be who she is. She and Joan can be friends without Patti's anxiety always getting in the way for both of them. In fact Patti can leave her social worries behind.

Ch.14 Everybody's Project.

The last work bee has put the roof on the cabin and it is almost time for Joan to leave for the city. A final discussion happens about all the things that Patti and her family will do to complete it. Joan is worried though, if everyone works on the cabin will it still be her home? She is reassured.

Later, Patti and Joan talk about how life will be for Joan without her little brother and sisters who will be in far away Calgary while she remains with aunt Kate in her apartment in the big city. Joan says she will have to learn to write letters to them but no way she is going with them. She has been promised guitar lessons starting next week and she wouldn't miss that for anything! They plan for winter holidays, sugaring off, a sleigh for Little Guy.....

Won't Joan miss completing the cabin, their project, though says Patti and Joan replies thoughtfully

“ It all depends on what you want to do with a project, I guess,” Joan said. “ For me, building a cabin was making a home. That's what I needed: a home. And now I have one.”

This last chapter brings us full circle from Joan looking at the model cabin and saying how the pioneers dreamed of something and then made it come true. They came to the wilderness and built a cabin and a life with hard work and determination. This too Joan has accomplished. She has gone through a shattering of her old life and finds herself confidently on the brink of a new one. Patti and her family have helped her find her way and have found their own way in the process. In helping Joan, they have all been changed. It really has been Joan's summer.

                                           The end.