Little House on the Prairie/Awesome

Book series

• Many never-say-die moments in The Long Winter, especially the sequence -- drawn directly from life -- in which rumours of one last supply of grain prompt Almanzo and Cap Garland make a long, dangerous journey to save their starving town.
• There's also the scene in Farmer Boy in which the slight, soft-spoken teacher menaced by bullies turns out to have a freaking bullwhip (given to him by Almanzo's father) hidden in his desk. After forcing them out, the other kids are so shocked and amazed by this that they can't remember their lessons or lunch.
  • In the same book, Mr. Paddock the wheelwright also gets one when he defends Almanzo from skinflint Thompson's insults... by forcing Thompson to hand over $200 of the lost $1500 Almanzo's just returned to him, instead of a nickel.
  • What about Almanzo's own reply to Thompson's first offer: "Keep your nickel, I can't change it"? If the real nine-year-old Almanzo said that, it was a Crowning Moment of Funny as well.
• Laura finally having enough of Eliza Jane Wilder's picking on Carrie at school in Little Town on the Prairie. The last straw comes when EJ commands Carrie and her seatmate to put away their books and continue rocking their loosely-bolted desk as punishment for unconsciously (and non-disruptively) rocking it while studying; when Carrie's seatmate gives in to embarrassment and moves to a different seat, EJ ignores her and continues to single out Carrie, who is not strong enough to rock the whole desk on her own. Laura, furious at the obvious injustice of the punishment, announces that if EJ wants the desk rocked, she'll rock it; EJ jumps on the offer, with the following result:

Laura hurried down the aisle. She whispered to Carrie, "Sit still and rest." She braced her feet solidly on the floor, and she rocked.
Not for nothing had Pa always said that she was as strong as a little French horse.
"THUMP!" went the back legs on the floor.
"THUMP!" the front legs came down. All the bolts came quite loose, and
"THUMP, THUMP! THUMP, THUMP!" the seat went in rhythm, while gladly Laura rocked and Carrie simply sat resting.
Not even the swinging weight eased Laura's fury. She grew angrier and angrier, while louder and faster she rocked.
"THUMP, THUMP! THUMP, THUMP!" No one could study now.

• Pa comes to visit Royal and Almanzo Wilder during the Long Winter. He's thin, gaunt, and hungry, even though his wife and four daughters are doing their best to save him as much food as possible, since he has the hardest workload. Royal and Almanzo, who are living alone with plenty of provisions from Father's farm, are gracious hosts and immediately offer to share their dinner with him, but he takes a bucket and unplugs a knothole in the far wall, where the seed grain Almanzo hid and specifically made Royal promise not to sell comes pouring out. Both Royal and Almanzo are surprised and ask him how he figured it out. Pa, an experienced carpenter, answers that the dimensions of the room don't match the dimensions of the building, and what else can you hide in such a small space that requires a plug? Pa tells Almanzo point-blank to sell him the grain, and insists on paying for it when Almanzo tries to relent. It's the realization that there are families like the Ingalls, five people quickly running out of supplies, that sends Almanzo on the course of trying to find the grain that some homesteader brought from back east.
• During sheep-shearing season on the Wilders' farm, the adult shearers tease Almanzo that he'll never catch up, because they'll finish shearing their sheep before Almanzo can finish hauling the fleeces up to the barn loft. But when the shearers lay down their clippers at the end of the day and turn to gloat, a loud 'Baaaaa!' is heard from the loft -- where Almanzo's contrived to hide one last unshorn sheep.
• In "Little House and the Big Woods", the scene in which Ma and Laura go out milking one winter evening and Ma impatiently slaps a huge bear that she thinks is the family cow blocking the door to the paddock.