An inspiring, upbeat novel of a man

who fought through the Depression to

save his family and his own self-respect

and of a boy who lived throught it to

become a man as bittersweet and

winning as the Walton saga.

In 1931 Braz Marvin, like millions 6f

Americans, found himself out of work

is a fireman on the once prosperous

Frisco" Railroad. With the days of

stready paychecks achingly distant, the

Marvins find brutal, backbreaking

work in the cotton fields, a sharecrop-

pers shack for a home...and each

other. They are undaunted by the near-

deadly malarial fevers, and their simple

pleasures shimmer like small perfect

diamonds-the big Snnday meals with

all the families,the delights of hog-

killin time, Christmas with its single

delectable orange, arid young Tom s

surprise victory over adults in a eoun-

try spelling bee.