Rachel lives on a farm in South Dakota with her Dad, Mom, three sisters and newborn brother. Her Dad has recently become very sad. Her mother tells her that the baby has reminded him of their first born son who died before he could be baptized. They were living in Iowa at that ime and their minister would not allow the baby to have a Lutheran burial because he had not been baptized. The book shows a close knit family working together to keep the farm going. They have close ties to their community and their church. It is a portrait of farm life in the 1950's on the american plains.