Miracles on Maple Hill: A Newbery Award Winner

1957 Newbery Medal Winner

Marly and her family share many adventures when they move from the city to a farmhouse on Maple Hill. Her father is tired after the war, and Mother hopes that all outdoors will help him rest and mend.

Warm neighbor Mr. Chris welcomes them to the mountain and shows them the first miracle of spring. As cold nights give way to sunny mornings, the family taps the maple trees and watches sweet sap boil into golden syrup inside the steamy sugarhouse.

Ten-year-old Marly and her brother Joe explore the woods together when the seasons begin to change. Along old lumber roads and mossy hills, they discover wild red foxes and search for early spring wildflowers.

From the first drip of sweet maple sap to quiet walks along the mountain ridges, country life brings unexpected wonders to Grandma’s old farm.

• Historical Fiction: Horse-drawn sleigh rides with jingling bells, cozy wood-burning stoves, and rural Pennsylvania traditions bring mid-century farm life to vivid reality.
• Sibling Dynamics: Ten-year-old Marly and her twelve-year-old brother Joe bicker over chores, yet band together to protect wild creatures in the dark.
• Found Family: Booming neighbor Mr. Chris and the gentle mountain woodcarver Harry the Hermit offer warm meals, homemade cheese, and steady friendship through every season.
• School Drama: When long hours in the sugarbush keep Joe and Marly from classes, a no-nonsense truant officer inspects the camp and organizes classmates to help gather the harvest.
• Also by This Author: Plain Girl.

VIRGINIA SORENSEN (1912-1991) was born in Utah, and it was her family's own stories that influenced her early novels of the American West.