Aunt Jane's Nieces and Uncle John

by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

"Aunt Jane's Nieces and Uncle John" by L. Frank Baum is a young adult novel written in 1911. Uncle John whisks his nieces Patsy and Beth away from a cold New York winter to sunny California. Along the journey, they encounter Myrtle Dean, a disabled orphan abandoned by her aunt to search for a missing uncle. The travelers adopt her as their companion, embarking on a southwestern adventure by touring car. But a mysterious, suicidal stranger keeps appearing wherever they go—and he may hold the key to Myrtle's fate.