The Thing about Luck

Summer knows that 'kouun' means good luck in Japanese, and it seems like this year her family has none of it. Right before harvest, an emergency causes her parents to go back to Japan. Summer and her brother are left with her grandparents who must come out of retirement to harvest wheat and help pay the bills.

Summer's detailed descriptions of the farming world illustrate the importance of harvest to farmers, contract harvesters, and families like hers hired by the harvesters.