Re: going west novel

[Avis Halberstadt <avish@UMD5.UMD.EDU>]

        In your query about a novel of going west - may I suggest The
Orphan Train Quartet by Joan Lowery Nixon?

        The first book, A Family Apart starts in New York City in 1860
where the Kelly family lives in poverty.  Mrs. Kelly, a widow, realizes
that she cannot take care of her six children so she sends them west on
the orphan train to begin a life with new families.  This first of the
quartet tells of Frances's decision to masquerade as a boy in order to
protect her younger brother.  Her adventures involves her in the
activities of the Underground Railroad.

        The second book, Caught In The Act, 11 year old Mike has been
sent to a foster home in Missouri with a sadistic owner, a bullying son,
and a number of secrets, one of which may be murder.  This book shows the
true American pioneer spirit.

        The third book, In The Face of Danger, deals with Megan who feels
that she is to blame for her family's misfortune.  She finds contentment
and purpose in her home on the Kansas prairie with a kind and loving family.
This volume again shows the true American pioneer spirit and presents and
accurate emergence as a powerful new nation.

        Hope this helps.

                                Barbara Goldstein
                                avish@hamlet.umd.edu