It is August 1939, and free-spirited ten-year-old Melvina Clarke is happy on the family ranch north of Fort Worth. Because of a family crisis, a reluctant Mel must go to the West Texas oil patch for a four-month stay. She has to live in an oil company camp with her aunt Margie, uncle Ray, cousin Polly, and Polly’s dog, Snatcher. While adapting to these new surroundings, Mel deals with homesickness, her meddlesome little cousin, three hecklers at school, and her disinterest in reading. She ...