Pioneer Cat (Stepping Stone, paper)

Book Description

Nine-year-old Kate Purdy is traveling from Missouri to Oregon by wagon train, and she’s worried about Snuggs—the pretty little cat who took a shine to her and decided to come along for the ride even though there are no pets allowed on the wagon train. No matter what happens, Snuggs the cat has to stay a secret!
“An action-packed, highly readable tale.”—Publishers Weekly
William H. Hooks has written over 40 other books for children, including The Legend of the Christmas Rose and The Mighty Sante Fe.

Customer Reviews:

Brings yesterday into focus for today's girl.......2000-07-26

My 7 yr. old advanced reader found this book not only reasonable to read, but it held her excitement at wanting to know what would happen to each of the characters as the wagon train progressed on its journey and met real dangers. It was not too scary, but filled with the concerns of real life in the pioneer days. The story developed the unfolding of a girlhood friendship in such a way as to show a young reader ways to ease into a relationship. It was a delight to read with a child and educational in many ways.

The Pioneer Cat-Chapter 3.......2000-02-03

I really enjoyed this story. I really liked it when her family felt sorry for her and let her have that cat. It's about a little girl on her way to Missouri with her family, Ma, Pa, Kate, Benjy, Duffy, and Doris.

Average customer rating:

Just what I expected
The Wild West
Parkman the master of Historians
Generally exciting account of the Oregon Trail
A Classic for a Reason

The Oregon Trail (Dover Value Editions)
Francis Parkman
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Short Stories

ASIN: 0486424804

Book Description

Keen observations and a graphic style characterize the author's remarkable record of a vanishing frontier. Detailed accounts of the hardships experienced while traveling across mountains and prairies; vibrant portraits of emigrants and Western wildlife; and vivid descriptions of Indian life and culture. A classic of American frontier literature.

Download Description

The West as it was when The White Man first saw it; a vivid, personal account

Customer Reviews:

Just what I expected.......2007-05-13

I ordered this book based on the film, " The Oregan Trail," which I enjoyed watching. The book is a good follow-up to the movie, making much of the content even more real for me.

The Wild West.......2006-10-13

Parkman's travelogue on the Great Plains is a major work of life among the Native Americans. His descriptions are honest and capture a society that was fading even while he was writing. The book had a major impact on the way that non-westerners saw the Great Plains. This was both good and bad. Parkman wrote through the lens of a Boston aristocrat and was full of prejudices against those who did not meet his standards. This was dangerous in that many who read about the "backwardness" of the Native Americans used this as justification for "civilizing" them. Although this was probably not Parkman's intention, it was a consequence of his writing. In addition, he promoted the hunting of buffalo for sport, which led to the decimation of the buffalo heards on the Plains.

Another major issue with this book is that, in spite of its title, it is not about the Oregon Trail. Parkman went no further than the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and he did all in his power to dissociate himself from the pioneers moving along the Oregon Trail. If you are looking for a history of the trail, this book will not satisfy your needs.

However, in spite of the misleading title and the prejudices that surface throughout the book, it is still a fine piece of writing that opens up a world that has been lost to today's readers. Read it and enjoy your travels into another time and place.

Parkman the master of Historians.......2006-09-01

In a day when "historians" make comment on the long dead or events from the confines of their apartments, Francis Parkman is the person who actually experienced the history he wrote about. There is no political correctness in Parkman and he describes savages, French, frontiersmen and Mormons exactly as they were without apology.
This work is a masterpiece everyone should read and be a guidebook to modern historians who spend more time working a political end and getting in the way of history rather than letting history tell it's truthful tale.
Parkman is not just the historian or recorder of events. He is the bard of Sioux myth, the geologist, biologist and countless other things describing flora, fauna and weather. He is complete in having that air of Boston social elite in beginning his journey and returning from the plains an American having tasted, smelled and breathed the savage world and revealed the eastern thoughts on how that world would evolve for the next 60 years.
Parkman is remarkable and the best compliment for this book is to recommend that readers search for other Parkman histories to read as they are real.
I am currently in his wonderful Montecalm and Wolfe series on the history of Canada which actually created America. If you have children, share Parkman's history with them as he will make it come alive for them.
As you can see by all of the lengthy reviews, Francis Parkman invokes a great deal of thought and emotion in his histories which transfers to the reader.

Generally exciting account of the Oregon Trail.......2005-12-04

The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman is an account which further enforces the history of the Oregon Trail we had learned about in [U.S. History] class. The book portrays what it must have been like to travel on the Trail, never knowing what the next day would bring. The buffalo hunting which took place throughout the book became monotonous and boring after the first exciting few, but other than that repetitiveness, the journey was well depicted. I especially enjoyed Parkman's in-depth descriptions given to the reader of the people he meets on his journey and his observations on their actions as well. His vivid imagery of scenes from nature such as animals, prairie landscapes, and the weather, place the reader right next to Parkman in his adventuresome expedition. There are some dull, repetitive points in the observations made by the author, but aside from that his autobiographical telling of his journey is unforgettable.

A Classic for a Reason.......2005-03-12

The Oregon Trail still stands as a classic of American literature and of a rapidly vanishing past. Written as an account of a summer he spent traveling the Oregon Trail, Parkman captures the details of communal Native American life with no sentimentality, just hard reality. Even though written in 1846, Parkman is amazingly precise in his estimation of the vanishing frontier and Native American way of life. At times, he is rather callous toward the Native Americans, but this also reflects his times and environment. Highly recommended.

Westward to Home: Joshua's Diary, The Oregon Trail, 1848 (My America)

Average customer rating:

Ok but Bewidering Edition of Dear America
Okay but not great
Home here we come!!
traveling along
Nature Loves to Hide

Westward to Home: Joshua's Diary, The Oregon Trail, 1848 (My America)
Patricia Hermes
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

A Perfect Place: Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary, Book Two
The Wild Year: Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary
Freedom's Wings: Corey's Diary, Kentucky to Ohio, 1857 (My America)
Five Smooth Stones: Hope's Revolutionary War Diary (My America)(Book One)
My America: We Are Patriots: Hope's Revolutionary War Diary, Book Two (My America)

ASIN: 0439112095

Book Description

It is 1848 when Joshua McCullough and his family leave their home in St. Joseph, Missouri, and set off for Oregon on a wagon train. During their seven-month-long journey, many of the other families on the trail suffer devastating losses, but Joshua's is spared. However, Joshua must conquer his fear of water during the many river crossings the wagon train must make. During one dramatic crossing, Joshua heroically dives into a rushing river to save his younger sister Becky. The battered wagon train reaches Oregon after traveling over two thousand miles.

Customer Reviews:

Ok but Bewidering Edition of Dear America.......2006-01-16

I think my students will like this book and find it interesting but I am bewildered at the willingness of the author in adding gruesome episodes with little explanation. I find short passages that mention a gruesome death or injury and just go on to the next page. My main interest in using this book is for ESOL students whose reading levels are low but need American history lessons. This book fits the bill in history and reading level but I wonder if the book could have been written with a more comfortable fit. Students are going to end up with many more questions than a feeling of clarity. I will have to try to make that up.

Okay but not great.......2004-05-07

This book is about a young boy traveling the Oregon Trail back in the day. He has many hardships and has to deal with lots of problems. They have to deal with death, sickness, and many wagon problems. The diary tells of how he feels and really shows his true side.

Home here we come!!.......2004-05-05

I thought Westward to Home was an okay book. It was about a boy named Joshua and his family moving to Oregon. At the beginning of the book Joshua's grandfather didnt want to go to Oregon with his family. He thought it would be hard for him to leave his wife's grave. He eventually decided to go to Oregon with his family. Joshua was excited. Joshua's grandfather surprises his whole family with something he does on the trail. This book is best for boys. They can connect with how he feels and what he goes through.

traveling along.......2004-05-05

This book brings you back to 1848. It shows you the hardships people had to face as they struggled to Oregon. Loved ones, live stock, and whole families were lost forever. As Joshua struggles to Oregon with his family he meets new people, forms new friendships, and meets up with unexpected love ones. As Joshua gets ready to leave Independence, MO. His beloved grandfather changes his mind and decides to come with Joshua and his family. As they go along Joshua's grandfather meets a young lady and marries her, this is a big shock to everyone. Joshua overcomes his fear of water and finds the courage to go on.

Nature Loves to Hide.......2002-03-29

Patricia Hermes' account of this dangerous exploration needs quiet time to listen. The young boy's relationship with his grandfather becomes my chief reason for buying and recommending this book to grandparents who often care for children's needs more diligently than birth parents.
The author manifests a unique sense of humor when she creates the name for "ME-TOO". Capturing the surf and the breeze the story, WESTWARD TO HOME renders the journey as nature's spiritual turf. Mary Kelly,Toms River, NJ.

Average customer rating:

A booklet not a book
Good for all ages
Definitely worth reading
Quick facts
Critique of the Review by Ms Debbie Keefer

Fantastic Facts about the Oregon Trail
Michael J. Trinklein
Manufacturer: Trinklein Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1883691001

Book Description

Wind-powered wagons; the $100 drink of water; mysterious empty graves; a cow that started a war. Read all about these fantastic facts--and dozens of others--in this fun-to-read book.

Did you know that some pioneers took a "shortcut" to Oregon that took them perilously close to Antarctica? Or that ferryboat operators on the Oregon Trail could earn nearly $2,000 per day? Or that many pioneers found ice in the middle of the blazing hot desert? It's all true! An entertaining read for young people or anyone interested in the great western journey.

Customer Reviews:

A booklet not a book.......2007-06-27

This $3 booklet is the size of a greeting card. There are 24 "fantastic facts" on 43 pages. The postage is $3.99. Buyer beware.

Good for all ages.......2007-05-07

I purchased this book for my daughter who is 9. It is a really good book for children and for adults. There were quite a few interesting things listed in the book that I did not already know. A real fun book, but dont expect a doctoral thesis.

Definitely worth reading.......2005-10-22

Although this book is not intended to (and won't) gove you a comprehensive overview of the history of the Oregon Trail, this is still a very good book to read if you are interested in the era. I learned quite a bit about it, and found it fascinating. Some great facts. Definitely worth reading.

Quick facts.......2001-08-11

This is a quaint little book that is full of interesting facts. My fifth graders have enjoyed listening to the unusual stories. The entries are quick and easy and great for filling those 5 minute gaps or introducing a lesson.

Critique of the Review by Ms Debbie Keefer.......2001-03-09

Ms. Keefer needs to improve her spelling, especially if she is a 4th grade teacher (see her review). I live "on" the Oregon Trail, in Pocatello, Idaho. My wife and I visit Oregon Trail sites (especially visual "ruts") whenever we can. Michael Trinklein is a well-respected historian; this book is a keeper!

A Perfect Place: Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary, Book Two

Average customer rating:

A perfect continuation of Joshua's story

A Perfect Place: Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary, Book Two
Patricia Hermes
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0439389003

Book Description

It is the fall of 1848, and Joshua and his family have finally arrived in Oregon. Excited about their new home, they choose a place to build and raise a farm. Though life out West is trying, and they must cope with losses and setbacks, they also experience great success and joy.

Customer Reviews:

A perfect continuation of Joshua's story.......2002-11-11

It is now fall of 1848 when Joshua starts his second journal. Now Joshua and his family which consists of his Pa,Ma,Grandpa, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousin, Charlie, have all arrived in the Willamette Valley safely. As new challenges arise in this new, unchartered wilderness, Joshua must face many new challenges and experience numerous adventures. As the numerous days of rain brings massive flooding, the one family dream, that they would have a home by Christmas, seems diminished to bits, just like their old tents were diminished by the floods. Can Joshua work up some Christmas magic so that his whole family, including his expecting mother, can have a Christmas home? The continuation of Joshua's story was another good edition to My America. I think I liked it even better than the first one. Joshua's spirit truly shines through.

Sterling Point Books: The Stout-Hearted Seven: Orphaned on the Oregon Trail (Sterling Point Books)

Average customer rating:

Sterling Point Books: The Stout-Hearted Seven: Orphaned on the Oregon Trail (Sterling Point Books)
Neta Lohnes Frazier
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1402736177

Book Description

Based on a true story originally written by one of the survivors, Neta Lohnes Frazier’s account of seven children traveling westward still has the power to astonish. In the 1840s, the Sager family set off on the Oregon Trail, a dangerous and adventure-filled journey. Tragedy struck when both the mother and father succumbed to fever, orphaning the youngsters—one just a newborn. The entire wagon train adopted them, until they arrived at the Whitman Mission in Oregon. There, the Sagers settled into an ordinary life…until the day of an Indian massacre. The bravery of the Stouthearted Seven will amaze today’s young readers.

Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail: The Times that Tried Women's Souls and a Guide to Women's History Along the Oregon Trail (Women of the West) (Women of the West)

Average customer rating:

Emotionally Written, Wonderful Book
Emotionally written. Wonderful book.
Wonderful
Interesting women's history

Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail: The Times that Tried Women's Souls and a Guide to Women's History Along the Oregon Trail (Women of the West) (Women of the West)
Susan G. Butruille
Manufacturer: Tamarack Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Covered Wagon Women, Volume 1: Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1840-1849 (Covered Wagon Women)
Oregon Trail Stories: True Accounts of Life in a Covered Wagon
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Women's Diaries of the Westward Journey
The Oregon Trail: Yesterday and Today

ASIN: 0963483986

Book Description

WOMEN'S VOICES FROM THE OREGON TRAIL narrates the lives and evokes the voices of the women who traveled the 2,000 mile trail to Oregon 150 years ago. The book artfully blends women's diaries, songs, history, poetry, recipes, and quilts. Susan Butruille first takes us to the Midwestern farms where most of the women came from, then on their brave and outlandish trek, and finally to the strange and bountiful land where a new home was supposed to be.

Customer Reviews:

Emotionally Written, Wonderful Book.......2003-11-24

Susan Butruille has captured the feeling behind the women's hard covered exterior on the Oregon Trail. This book touched me deeplyin the way that I cried during reading of the book and thought about the book many times after reading it. I read this book in two days and since then have visioned it while living my life here in 2002. I have felt so much for the reallife women of the diaries in this book that I talked about it with my husband and simple things that used to get him or me in a tizzy before I read this book now seem so trivial and unimportant. I think that this book changed my life, the way I look at life in a way that I appreciate way more than I did before I read this book and think much about how wagon women would solve a problem that I have daily and if they would have had that problem (via computers or toasters) at all because everything was so much more primitive, necessary and simple YET hard and trying and exhausting back then.
In two words I have for anyone thinking about buying this book is PLEASE DO ..... it will enrich your life. It did Mine.

Emotionally written. Wonderful book........2002-09-18

Wonderful.......2001-02-16

This is a poignant and moving book. It is well constructed. It addresses the daily activities, as well as the overall significance, of women on the Oregon Trail. The book weaves together (and is centered around) excerpts from diaries and other first hand writings. Hearing the stories from those who experienced the journey was an emotional and educational treat.

Interesting women's history.......2000-06-14

If you are interested in the day to day lives of women as they walked the Oregon Trail, you'll enjoy this book.

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 (Dear America Series)

Average customer rating:

Loved it!!!
Not as Good as I Expected
A delightfully wonderful account of crossing the Oregon Trail
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prarie
Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847 (Dear America Series)
Kristiana Gregory
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0590226517

Customer Reviews:

Loved it!!!.......2007-04-16

I would recommend this book to everyone.
It all started when Hattie's Uncle fell off the roof and died. When his coffen was in the wagon, it fell off into the river. Pa jumped in and tried to save it, but a steamboat came and sucked the coffin under. The captin of the steam boat felt sorry, so he said he would give Pa and the family a free ride anywhere. Pa gathered up all their belongings and headed to Oregan. Hattie and her family went through so much when traveling to oregan. Her friends died, oxen and mules died. Mrs. Kenker stole when folks weren't looking. Mrs. Biggs drowns; Mr. Kenker killed himself by jumping into the river; some boys died of poiesining, etc. In the latter part of the journey all their oxen died, therefore they had to leave all the belongings and walk the rest of the way.

Not as Good as I Expected.......2006-06-01

This book is okay - not good, and definately not perfect. Hattie is SUCH a stereotype of "headstrong, unladylike, has a well-behaved best friend" that I've seen way too many times. The action is not as good as in the Oregon Trail game, and Hattie's family is pretty stereotypical too. Still read, it's not truly terrible...

A delightfully wonderful account of crossing the Oregon Trail.......2006-03-26

I was simply looking for some day-to-day detail about emigrants crossing the Oregon Trail when I stumbled across this book. A quick read left me loving Hattie Campbell and her compelling story. It made me fully understand the hardships, heart aches, joys and successes of the Campbell family's journey. Loved it!

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prarie.......2006-02-03

I am a 6th grader from Cornwall New York. The book I read was Across the Wide and Lonesome Prarie by Kristina Gregory. This book is mainly about a girl named Hattie Campbell starting a new life in Oregon recording everything that happens. During the book Hattie goes through major struggles to get to Oregon.Some struggles Hattie goes through is going through huge dry deserts and long fierce rivers. During these journeys Hattie's friends and family pass away. For Hattie and many others this is very emotional. The whole book they are going through diffrent challenges. One of my favorite parts is when they go through the biggest rivers during a storm and the indians chasing them.I think many people would enjoy the part when they travel through the mountains. This story never stops with the action.The problems just keeps on a going and going. I think anyone who reads this book will love it. I would definetly recomend this book to anyone. If you are looking for a great book I suggest you read this amazing book. If you feel this book does not fit your style than try one of the other Dear America books in the collection.

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie.......2006-02-01

Cornwall, New York, 6th grader. The book Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie was about a girl named Hattie leaving Missouri to start a new life in Oregon with her family. During this journey Hattie goes through many struggles. I thought this was a good book because they were always having a new adventure. During the book they also had to cross rivers go and through dry deserts. I would recommend this book to someone that likes adventure. One of my favorite parts was when they had to go through the first river. Overall this was a good book.

Francis Parkman : The Oregon Trail / The Conspiracy of Pontiac (The Library of America)

Average customer rating:

Classic History
The "Original" American West - in Two Volumes

Francis Parkman : The Oregon Trail / The Conspiracy of Pontiac (The Library of America)
Francis Parkman
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450542

Book Description

"From boyhood," wrote Francis Parkman, "I had a taste for the woods and the Indians." His lifelong fascination with these American subjects are brilliantly recorded in "The Oregon Trail" and "The Conspiracy of Pontiac," his two earliest works. Parkman began his travels to the northern wilderness during his student years at Harvard in the 1840s, then went west after graduation. His first and most famous book, "The Oregon Trail," is a vivid account of his adventures on the open frontier and his encounters with Plains Indians in their last era of free, nomadic life. "The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada," Parkman's first historical work, portrays the fierce conflict that erupted along the Great Lakes in the aftermath of the Seven Years' War and chronicles the defeats in which both the eastern Indians and their forest "received their final doom."

Customer Reviews:

Classic History.......2005-05-24

Francis Parkman was an eccentric Harvard graduate whose life work was the struggle of the British and French for North America (although he is better known to the general reader for
his youthful exploration of the West described in The Oregon Trail). He was fluent in French and was assiduous in his investigations of primary sources. He also had a gift for lyrical narration (see the last paragraph of The Conspiracy of Pontiac, which describes the fate of the "forest hero").
His perspective on the American Indian was realistic. He knew
the Indian and respected him, but also realized his flaws and this has made him persona non grata among some modern circles.
That's what describing an Indian village as a "motley concourse of barbarians" will do! However, the reader may learn for himself in this book the fate of the captives from the fort at Michillimackinac and that of the pathetic one-room schoolhouse in the Ohio River valley and see if the 18th century tribes did not truly have a potential for utter savagery.

The "Original" American West - in Two Volumes.......2000-06-23

This volume is a reader's delight, for it presents not one but two of Francis Parkman's classic works: The Oregon Trail and The Conspiracy of Pontiac. Rightly hailed as America's greatest historian, in The Oregon Trail Francis Parkman relates a journey to the 1840's American West - undertaken for the express purpose of living among "real" American Indian tribes of the Great Plains before their way of life passed forever. By this experience Parkman hoped to better understand and relate what eastern tribes had so tragically fought for and lost in the preceding century's struggle for the continent. The Oregon Trail is a great book in its own right, and has been reviewed by this reader previously (see more in "About Me/Other Reviews"), but the primary focus of this review is Parkman's study of a crucial chapter in the development of North America as we know it today: the disastrous consequences France's defeat in Canada would bring to the remaining eastern tribes. For this event would inexorably lead to the explosion of the English colonies across lands heretofore held by them under French "dominion".

While the Iroquois Nations had long maintained an uneasy alliance with the English as they pushed their way into the western reaches of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, those further west knew what the defeat of the French would bring: utter destruction. The Ottawa, Ojibwa, Pottawattami, Delaware, Shawnee, Illinois, Sauk and Foxes had long fought the intrusion of the arrogant and land-grabbing English from Quebec to the Mississippi. Pontiac himself had fought beside the Marquis de Montcalm as he tried in vain to save New France from ruin during the French & Indian War. But at last, in the mid-1700s France finally capitulated to her English rivals, her hold on the North American continent broken forever. The only task left to the conquerors was to make their way across the Great Lakes, into the valleys of the Ohio, and down the Mississippi into the Illinois country to make their claim upon the former French forts and trading houses. For a brief time a singular leader and a dozen nations blocked their way: Pontiac and his assembled allies.

Parkman sets the stage by briefly relating the history of France and England in America from the early 1600s-1760s, then meticulously details the source of the tribes' many grievances - grievances which would directly lead to Pontiac's bold attempt to decisively halt the English advance.

Though doomed to ultimate defeat against the onslaught of English guns and armies, traders and pioneers, for a short time Pontiac's initiative was remarkably successful. He brought war to nearly all of western America at the same time - from the siege at Detroit to the forests outside the gates of Niagara, from upper Michigan and Wisconsin to the Ohio valley, into western Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York, down the many rivers and tributaries leading into the Mississipi. A dozen forts fell before him and hundreds of miles of frontier settlements emptied in terror.

Parkman's work is perhaps the best chronicle of many of these tribes' last desperate fight for their lives and land. Those interested in the history of the struggles destined to come shortly to the tribes west of the Mississippi will derive much insight from Parkman's treatment of Pontiac's war. For his "conspiracy" was the original "last great battle" for the "American West" - 100 years before the battle for the further western Plains would come to an ignominious close. To understand Pontiac's war, the motives of both his people and the English and French, as well as the burgeoning force who would soon thereafter cast off their identity as "colonists" is to understand much of what would follow as American history.

Westward To Home: Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary

Average customer rating:

Historical Fiction Book Review
You Think You Have Got It Hard
This book is the bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joshua's Diary
Review of Westward to Home

Westward To Home: Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary
Patricia Hermes
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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My America: The Starving Time: Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diary, Two (My America)

ASIN: 0439388996

Book Description

It is 1848 when Joshua McCullough and his family leave their home in St. Joseph, Missouri, and set off for Oregon on a wagon train. Though many of the other families on the trail suffer devastating losses during their long journey, Joshua's is spared. However, Joshua must conquer his fear of water during one dramatic crossing, when he heroically dives into a rushing river to save his younger sister Becky. The battered wagon train finally reaches Oregon after traveling over two thousand miles.

Customer Reviews:

Historical Fiction Book Review.......2007-04-25

Westward to Home is a great book to read about. Joshua, the boy in the story, and his family are going to Oregon in a wagon train.
Joshua writes about everything that happens in his diary.
I liked the part where Joshua and his family were fording down a river. Then his little sister almost drowned, but Joshua saved her.
One day his Grandpa took Joshua hunting and he shot a male buffalo.
The leader of the wagon train was cousin Daniel, who had no toes on one foot because of a frost bite.

I learned some interesting facts. Life on the Oregon Trail was hard, because of the bad wheather, not enough food and people got sick.
The migration to Oregon was 159 years ago.
The Indians respected the military.
I also learned that the author of this book is Patricia Hermes.

I would recommend this book for three reasons.
First, it's an interesting story. Second, it's suspenseful to read.
Finally, it's good to know, how life was over 150 years ago. It makes me
appreciate how good life is today.
Westward to Home is a great book!

Jessica Stedman, 3rd. Grade, Glenmeade Elementary School, Chino Hills, CA.

You Think You Have Got It Hard.......2006-05-22

If you think you have it hard, wait until you read the book Westward to Home, Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary. Joshua has hard times all through the book. He tells you many things about his family, friends, and neighbors. This book gets sad in parts but gets better in other parts.
The book Westward to Home takes place in 1848. The people in the book are never really in one spot the whole time, but their journey should end up in Oregon. Will they make it?
I think people who like reading diaries would enjoy reading this book.

This book is the bomb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-01-06

I'm in 3rd grade and I read Joshua's Oregon Trail Diary (book 1.) When I read it, I just fell in love with it! I suggest this book to anyone who likes adventure, excitement, and realistic historical fiction.

Joshua's Diary.......2004-12-20

The book Joshua's Diary is about a boy and his family who are traveling on the Oregon Trail. I enjoyed this book because it has so many wonderful details that make you feel as if you were with them. This is a very good book, but has very sad and frightening parts.

Review of Westward to Home.......2004-05-08

This is a story of a boy who is about to set out on the Oregon Trail. His grandpa gives him a journal to write about the journey westward, but instead his grandpa goes with him. It tells the story of a young boy traveling westward and the difficulties that take place. Many people die while they are on the Oregon Trail from illness and other things. It mostly takes place while they are on the Oregon Trail. I thought this was a pretty good story telling about the Oregon Trail.

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