This charming book will appeal to young and old alike. The characters and plot are entirely fictional, but those well-acquainted with Door County may find both landscape and personalities in the story familiar.

When fourteen-year-old Cleo Hardin decides to run away from her summer job in Door County, Wisconsin, she doesn't realize how difficult it will be to find her way. Avoiding the main roads, she quickly becomes lost and badly frightened. Fortunately, Miss Alvina Root, a life-long resident of the peninsula living well off the beaten track, finds Cleo in the woods and gives her a meal and a place to sleep. Miss Root is a rugged, no-nonsense person with troubles of her own, but she soon takes a liking to Cleo and undertakes to help her. Though grateful for help, Cleo doesn't really trust anyone and persists in trying to go it alone. She quickly gets herself into another scrape that leads to a rather dangerous adventure.