Making a new life in California back when it was "new".

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This historical fiction story tells about Amanda who moves across the country to California with her family. They had a long journey and arrive to a tent city without much of anything. Her father goes off to pan for gold to earn money for the family and her brothers do work in the fields. She feels a little bored and decides to bake a pie but needs to be resourceful as she doesn't have a pie pan. Her pie doesn't turn out at first but she doesn't give up. When her father goes away to pan for gold she gives him a pie for the trip. He returns with money as it seems the others paid him for a slice of pie. Amanda decides to start a business and becomes an entrepreneur. She also encourages others in the town to start businesses to meet needs of the town. Soon the town has a tailor, a store, a laundry, a horse stable, a hotel, a bank, and a school. Soon the town is booming.

I thought the story was written in language children would understand and did a great job in telling about the gold rush. It also teaches math concepts with goods, services, producers and entrepreneurship.

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