Twelve-year-old Winter Kelland is an orphan indentured to a cold, harsh farming couple. His one bright spot is eight-year-old Vine, a neighbor girl who believes he can do great things if he can get an education. Win finally has enough of the hard life at the farm and runs away. But he discovers that even his poor life at the farm was desirable to being a half-starved tramp. At his lowest, he encounters a prickly spinster who learns to follow God's command, "He that honoreth Him hath mercy on the poor." The title, Eighty Seven, refers to the year Vine will turn 22 years old and will have a grand birthday feast, and is a tribute to her Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC) graduating class of 1887. (Summary by TriciaG)