It's 1936, and America is deep into the Great Depression. Twelve-year-old Rachel is living in a busy city with her Pop and two siblings, Joey and Cassie. Rachel's best friend is Miss Mitzi, who runs the florist shop. However, all this quickly changes when Pop loses his job and moves his children to broken-down farmhouse miles from the city. Then Pop must leave for Canada or not get a job at all. Now Rachel is in charge, but things go badly wrong. Xenia, the goat, eats the garden, Cassie loses every penny they have, and there's nothing to eat but fish and beans.

I read R Is For Rachel by Patricia Giff. The book is about a girl named Rachel who has lived in the city all her life . Because of the depression, her dad loses his job. Rachel's mom has died so when her dad finds out about a possible job in the country the whole family has to move so he can try to get the job. The family does not want to move away from their good friend Miss Mitzi . Miss Mitzi spends a lot of time with Rachel teaching her important things about life. The house they move to in the country has holes in the roof and needs repairs.