Suzette is a little French girl who lives in a house on the bayou path in a Louisiana village. She likes people and wants to make them happy even if she gets into trouble for it. When Suzette finds the Indian girl, Marteel, without home or mother or bed to sleep in, she takes her home to the already over-crowded Durand house and things begin to happen. There has never been anyone quite like Marteel for resource, surprise and lovableness. She knows how to deal with alligators or wild cats and how to conduct yourself in a spring flood. Suzette does well to be her loyal friend and defender.

Lois Lenski has written an unusual story, with fine humor and true interpretation of a charming and unfamiliar American scene. In it she has made a genuine gift to American boys and girls. The reader will learn to love the bayou and its people in the story of Suzette and Marteel and feel a lasting affection for the two girls.