O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

I found this story incredibly moving. It covers a broad swath of time, and you can definitely see where it's going at points, but I really loved its humanity. It starts with a kitten up a telephone pole, and only gets better from there. I was particularly interested in the variety of languages in play in the community, and the portrait of a multi-ethnic community it created. I was also interested in Alexandra's growth into her own person. Beautiful and well-worth the time both to read and to write about.