This powerful story, presented in the simple language of 10-year-old Susan Parker, really centers around the characterization of Jerry, Sue’s 12-year-old brother. The Parker family, unused to any kind of pioneering life, leaves St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1860, part of a westward-bound wagon train. Each family member is challenged by the hardships of a difficult journey in which a jumble of classes and types of people must learn how to pull together. Jerry thrives on the life, and is prepared, when the call comes, to sacrifice much for the sake of the common good. Here is an unusually realistic and moving tale of pioneer spirit.

From the Bethlehem Books reprint