Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com
As the only surviving members of their family, 15-year-old Aiden Lynch and his sister, Maddy, have barely made it through the harsh winter alone. Not much remains in their part of Kansas after the flood and the fires, and the two are reduced to living off clay from the river and the occasional grasshopper.
It's been five months since they've seen another human being, so when Jefferson J. Jackson arrives on their land, looking for leftover sodbusters to work in the lumber camps of Seattle, Aiden can hardly believe it. With the news that the Civil War has ended, along with Aiden's only hope of joining the army to provide for himself and his sister, their lack of choice is clear, and the two manage to convince Jackson to take them along.
Brother and sister thrive and even make a few friends during their journey with Jackson's wagon train - Aiden with the Nez Pearce Indian, Tupic, and Maddy with the haunted doctor, Carlos. The two dare to dream of the lives they will create for themselves once Aiden's term of indenture is over, but there are many ways to die on the Oregon Trail, and hardship strikes the Jackson train many times over.
Once the train trail splits off and everyone goes their respective ways, Aiden loses himself in the mindless work of the lumber camps, cutting himself off from all emotion. When Tupic tells him of the horrible plague of small pox that has invaded the Indian community, Aiden must decide whether he will continue to hide from all responsibility, or if he will bother to fight for a cause that may already be lost.
This achingly emotional story explores some of the hardships that surrounded the travels of pioneers on the Oregon Trail and the myths that remain of the American government's approach toward Native Americans and small pox. Bittersweet and raw, this is one historical tale that will stay with the reader for a long time afterward.
As the only surviving members of their family, 15-year-old Aiden Lynch and his sister, Maddy, have barely made it through the harsh winter alone. Not much remains in their part of Kansas after the flood and the fires, and the two are reduced to living off clay from the river and the occasional grasshopper.
It's been five months since they've seen another human being, so when Jefferson J. Jackson arrives on their land, looking for leftover sodbusters to work in the lumber camps of Seattle, Aiden can hardly believe it. With the news that the Civil War has ended, along with Aiden's only hope of joining the army to provide for himself and his sister, their lack of choice is clear, and the two manage to convince Jackson to take them along.
Brother and sister thrive and even make a few friends during their journey with Jackson's wagon train - Aiden with the Nez Pearce Indian, Tupic, and Maddy with the haunted doctor, Carlos. The two dare to dream of the lives they will create for themselves once Aiden's term of indenture is over, but there are many ways to die on the Oregon Trail, and hardship strikes the Jackson train many times over.
Once the train trail splits off and everyone goes their respective ways, Aiden loses himself in the mindless work of the lumber camps, cutting himself off from all emotion. When Tupic tells him of the horrible plague of small pox that has invaded the Indian community, Aiden must decide whether he will continue to hide from all responsibility, or if he will bother to fight for a cause that may already be lost.
This achingly emotional story explores some of the hardships that surrounded the travels of pioneers on the Oregon Trail and the myths that remain of the American government's approach toward Native Americans and small pox. Bittersweet and raw, this is one historical tale that will stay with the reader for a long time afterward.
