Information on the rural disadvantaged children presented in this book was gathered by observation and through interviews with 3 groups of people. These groups include the migrant workers on the eastern coast, the sharecroppers and tenant farmers who live in the Old South, and the mountaineers of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. The children of these regions are described in detail and in many cases are allowed to tell their own stories. The 3 geographical areas are described in terms of the land itself and the people's feeling for the land. Rural life is discussed in terms of spirit, youth, upheaval, and religion. The children are pictured as living a life of frustrating poverty in which the educational opportunities necessary to improve their condition are lacking. (PS)