Publisher's Synopsis
By the Shores of Silver Lake is based on Laura's late childhood spent near De Smet, South Dakota, beginning in 1879. The book also introduces Laura's youngest sister Grace Pearl. Sadly, in the beginning their beloved dog Jack dies of old age. Laura meets her cousin Lena Waldvogel who becomes her good friend (Lena was the daughter of Laura's Aunt Docia, who married August Waldvogel). Because her sister Mary is blind due to an illness, Laura also acts as Mary's eyes and becomes kinder and more mature through this service. When they first move to the railroad camp, the Ingalls stay in a railroad shanty, and the following spring they are able to stake a claim of their own. Also her father gets offered a job in the west by his sister.
