During the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900, Harvey Houses were a familiar sight to train travelers in the American West. Harvey Girls served gourmet meals to passengers of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway (there were one hundred Harvey Houses and about a hundred thousand Harvey Girls over the years!). In a time when career choices for women were limited, becoming a Harvey Girl off ered rare independence for young ladies.

In 1919 one such aspirant is fourteen-year-old Clara Fern Massie, who runs away from home in the Ozarks after standing up to her harsh father. Heading west and taking a job as a waitress—a Harvey Girl—the underage Clara struggles to learn the demanding “Harvey Way” and shed her farm-girl image. Readers of all ages will cheer Clara on in her adventures and trials, from Missouri to the Grand Canyon, as she grows to become a confident, independent woman.