The Dark Didn’t Catch Me tells the story of the Robinson family during the Great Depression in Greene County, Indiana. Seely Robinson is the tenacious 11-year-old heroine, and it is from her perspective that the story is told. It begins when Seely, her two siblings, and her parents relocate to the hills of southern Indiana. There they face a struggle to survive, as Seely’s father works to control his anxieties and temper, and as Seely’s mother labors through personal disappointment and poverty to raise her family. Seely learns and grows, and in spite of all her troubles, through all of these hardships, ultimately manages to see through the darkness and appreciate the wonder of living.