Dozie's friendship with an old magician helps her deal with the trials of the city. But when her African American family escapes the big city for Montana, the trip is often frightening and Dozie has to call on the protection of her "magic line."
The fact that new-found Uncle Samuel Dan made life seem so much easier to Dozie's family makes her wonder if he has magic powers.
Betty Erwin successfully combined the careers of author, physician and housewife. A graduate of the medical school of the University of Wisconsin, she practiced anesthesiology, first in Wisconsin and then in Seattle when her husband got a job as a mathemetician at the Boeing Company. The Erwins and their six children lived in a large house in an older section of Seattle.