In 1878, the three Muldie brother-ages eleven, eight, and three-and their father travel from Kentucky to Nicodemus, Kansas. Living in a dugout like other black pioneer families, they endure hunger and hardships before spring comes. Ed Muldie leaves the boys to take care of each other while he looks for a better homestead further west. They hunt, fish, and stay in the dugout until their father's letter arrives months later with a rough map. Following...

Remembering her mother's words, an eight-year-old girl finds courage to go alone with her father to build a new home in the Connecticut wilderness and to stay with the Indians when her father goes back to bring the rest of the family.

Having survived an attack that left her scarred and her father dead, Alice Chesterfield is never free from the fear and memories of the man who is responsible. Texas seems to be an answer to Alice's prayers, and when she has the opportunity to relocate to a ranch near Dallas, Robert Barnett captures her attention. He doesn't worry about the obstacles that stand in their way-- and he hardly seems to notice the scar she bears. When devastating information...

A young farmer in 1858 sets out across the American frontier in an attempt to deal with his guilt at not being home to prevent a devastating family tragedy and finds himself tested in ways he hadn't imagined.

When their father invites a mail-order bride to come live with them in their prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother and hope that she will stay.

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It's locked at all times. Because when the trunk is opened, people around her start to disappear... The year is 1914, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, and forced her to flee her hometown of Redondo, California, in a hellfire rush, ready to make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will be one of...

A prairie wedding and then a funeral bring together extended family and friends in the fifth and final volume in the historical fiction series that started with the exquisite Newbery Medal Book Sarah Plain and Tall (1985). Once again, heartwarming is the word for the story, which is always true to a child's viewpoint. The narrator here is Sarah's daughter, Cassie, a fourth-grader in the prairie school of six pupils, and the core drama is the close,...

AIn 1886, Gretta Pope wakes one morning to discover that her husband is gone. Ulysses Pope has left his family behind on the far edge of Minnesota?s western prairie with only the briefest of notes and no explanation for why he left or where he?s headed. It doesn?t take long for Gretta?s young sons, Eli and Danny, to set off after him, following the scant clues they can find, jumping trains to get where they need to go, and ending up in the rugged...