Living in a small Native community in northern Ontario, "...a ten-year old girl called The Owl, writes seasonal diaries beginning in the summer o f 1962. She writes of warm, moving, carefree, often humourous events of her childhood. Upon reaching her teen years, she feels the first sorrow as an ominous climate of change seems to overwhelm her circle of friends, and then, a deep despair, as it includes even her mother, once her source of strength and security. With helpless frustration, she watches, unable to understand why her mother seems to suddenly succumb to alcohol. As a sixteen-year-old who has had to leave her community for further schooling, she returns for a summer visit, and realizes that despite all the changes, ...her mother's words will always be with her: 'Honour the Sun, child. Just as it comes over the horizon, honour the Sun, that it may bless you, come another day ...'" -- Cover, page [4]