My Antonia by Willa Cather

Loyal Books

Two young children arrive in a small frontier settlement on the wild and desolate plains of Nebraska, on the same day and by the same train. Jim Burden is a ten year old orphan from Virginia who has come to live with his grandparents, while Antonia Shimerda who's the same age as Jim, arrives with her large, immigrant family from Eastern Europe to try and eke out a living in the New World. The children find themselves thrown together as they live in adjoining farms. Jim tutors Antonia in English and they become good friends as they grow up. However, life takes an unexpected turn when Mr. Shimerda commits suicide. The Burden family tries to help but things go badly wrong. They leave Nebraska to settle in town, while Antonia is forced to begin working as household help. The rest of the book poignantly traces the enduring friendship between the two.