I'm trying to remember the author and/or titles for two different books I read and reread when I was about 16 (back in 1987).

The first was about a family living along the Mason Dixon line during the Civil War.  The father publishes a newspaper, and the mother is a reporter, so they go off to cover the war, leaving several children at home.  The teenage son runs off to fight, leaving his sister to look after an older, mentally disabled sister and several younger kids.  For some reason I think the title had something to do with the sky, but I can't find it anywhere.

The other book was about a girl from a wealthy English family prior to WWI.  Her father runs the family with an iron fist so she isn't allowed to go to school or join the Girl Guides or have friends.  Her orphaned older cousin, a suffragette, comes to live with the family and wakes her up.  Then her father dies and her cousin influences her mother to take an active role in running the business (I think its a mill) and make sure the son of the family grows up to respect women.  The girl gets a bicycle and looks forward to growing up strong.

Do either of these books ring any bells out there?  I would love to find them again.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

C.

These both sound great!  Have you ever checked out Loganberry?  http://www.loganberrybooks.com/stump.html

I had been looking for a book I read as a child, found it on Loganberry, and then it was the first book I ordered on PBS.  It was complete newbie luck as I couldn't find it anywhere for under $25 and it's almost never offered.