Vernon and Sylvia were still living off-the-grid, in a rundown old cabin on the banks of a stream in the remote wilderness of Alaska. But now they began living there the year round, going to town only two or three times a year to buy groceries and other supplies, or when Sylvia was due to have another baby.
For the next six years, the two of them were kept busy trapping in the winters, catching salmon in the summers, raising ranch mink, building a new cabin and caring for four small children with two of them in diapers a good share of the time. On top of that, they had to constantly watch the kids to keep them from getting lost in the woods, falling into the creek or accidentally getting hurt.
While their life was peaceful, America was rapidly becoming involved in World War II. Then in 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Six months later Dutch Harbor was bombed and the islands of Atta and Atka, far out on the Aleutian Chain, were captured. There were rumors that Anchorage might also be attacked, and all of Alaska was immediately classified as a war zone. Vernon had already signed up for the draft and no one knew what the future might hold.
While written for the general public, this book, as well as the other three in the series, is also suitable for older children who are interested in how families lived in earlier times and in far different circumstances than their own. The books are written in part from the perspective of the children, as well as that of their parents.