To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember and of the time when the family would once again be able to make roots for itself in one community.

"How long are you going to stay?" was always the first question asked of Janey each time her father and mother unpacked the car near a new crop where pickers were wanted.

Some day, Janey promised the willow plate, with its picture of a stream and a bridge and a real house beyond, they were going to be able to exchange the disheartening words: "As long as there's work" for the bold and confident ones: "As long as we want to."

From the dust jacket