"Basing her story on the published accounts of her true-life heroine, Mary Ellen Todd, Van Leeuwen describes a family's tumultuous journey along the Oregon Trail in 1852....The contrast between the tenderness of Mary Ellen's perceptions and the hardships of the frontier is deeply moving." --
Publishers Weekly "This is a convincing picture of a pioneer journey that does a good job of showing the tremendous sacrifices people made to follow their dream of a better life." -
School Library Journal "The appealing narrator, the forthright telling, and the concrete details of life along the Oregon Trail will draw readers into the story." -
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