"Kanzas" Territory in 1855 is a difficult place to settle, particularly for a 13-year-old poet like Lucy Thomkins. Between the proslavery Border Ruffians and Insiders like her father who are determined to make Kansas a free state (not to mention the snakes and the dust storms), it's hard to be heard, no matter your age.But after Lucy makes two new friends - a local Indian boy and a girl whose family helps runaway slaves - she makes choices to prove to herself and others that words and poems are meaningless without action behind them.