Set in the Appalachian hills, the story, narrated by 14-year-old Mary Call, this book tells of her efforts to keep her family together and independent after their sharecropper father dies. There is a great deal of humor and love.

Mary Call has promised her dying father to keep her brother and sisters together forever on the mountain, and never to take any help from strangers. She is determined to keep her word. No matter what. At first she is sure she can manage. Romey, Ima Dean, and Devola help gather herbs to sell in town; the riches of the mountains will surely keep the family clothed and fed. But then winter comes, fast and furious, and Mary Call has to learn that the land where the lilies bloom is also a cruel and unforgiving place, and it may take more than a promise to keep her family together.

The book from Kimberly was a yellow paperback.