Laughing Rain and Awakens Corn are twin girls, members of an Iroquois tribe at the very beginning of the Contact Period in America.

In their adolescent years, the twins are alike in every way except for one: a slight difference in their aspirations for life. One dutifully accepts the clan's expectations while her sister craves more adventure. Will the smoldering tension between them destroy their close relationship? Is it better to stay by the cookfire at home or risk death in solitary wandering in the forest?

Daily life in a Mohawk-Iroquois village high in the Adirondack Mountains in the year 1616 is vividly portrayed in this book, and with it, the strict separation of gender roles. The girls begin to experience the impact of colonialism with the visit of a missionary to their village. Find out about the rules and traditions that define this society and think about what you have in common with Laughing Rain and Awakens Corn. It seems that teenagers more than 400 years ago were not much different from young people today. See if you agree! And while you are doing that, ask yourself whether you, alone, would be able to survive for several days in the mountains. Would you know how to make a clay pot, identify a poisonous mushroom, or even confront a bear?

Their story references 70 mini-essays in Part II: NOTES ABOUT THE STORY that provide fascinating details of history and natural history to deepen our understanding of their lives and find connections with our own.