Precocious twelve-year-old louisa mae cardinal lives in the hectic New York city of 1940 with her family. Then tragedy strikes -- and lou and her younger brother, oz, must go with their invalid mother to live on their gr...Precocious twelve-year-old louisa mae cardinal lives in the hectic New York city of 1940 with her family. Then tragedy strikes -- and lou and her younger brother, oz, must go with their invalid mother to live on their great-Grandmother's farm in the virginia mountains.