“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.” –Booklist
