NEXT SPRING AN ORIOLE

Libby Mitchell (10) tells how she and her parents travelled from Virginia, in 1837, to settle in the forest near Saginaw, Michigan. Friendly neighbors help raise their first cabin; Indians, grateful for Mrs. Mitchell's nursing of their daughter, provide food for the winter; the Indian gift becomes Libby's friend. This is a little more difficult than others in the Stepping Stone series. And although historically authentic and smoothly written, it is bland and episodic, lacking narrative tension.