Crossing the Tracks, by Barbara Stuber 258 pages

This historical fiction is set here in Missouri around 1926. Young Iris discovers that she is to be shipped off to help a country doctor for a summer. Her widowed father has plans to open a second shoe store in Kansas City and it looks like his new girlfriend wants Iris out of the way. Iris adapts to her new home and enjoys the family she works for. The doctor's invalid mother is easy to work for and Iris decides to make her own future. Fortunately, she has a good friend who corresponds with her and helps her in her hour of need. Iris is spunky and resourceful -- a girl worthy of more than the limited life her father seems to offer her. Then and now, communication is necessary to keep a family healthy and thriving.