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Summary
Summary
It is the spring of 1815, and eleven-year-old Remembrance "Mem" Nye is leaving the comforts of her farm in Hartland, Connecticut, to settle in the wilderness of western New York. Lured by the promise of a better life in the Genesee Country, Mem and her family set off in a covered wagon.
Here is the story of Mem's unforgettable journey as she becomes separated from her family and then, after being reunited, almost loses them in a flood. The book illustrates the hardships of travel in the early pioneer days, when the wilderness was more thickly populated with bears, wolves, and mountain lions than with human beings. As Mem helps her family establish a foothold in the new land, she learns the importance of community and strong family connections.
One of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year
Author Notes
As a child, Mary Jane Auch loved books and read constantly. Her interest in drawing began as a child and continued through high school. She went on to become an art major at Skidmore College. After graduation, Auch went for New York City, but after a year of designing prints for men's pajamas, she decided she wanted to do something more meaningful with her life. She enrolled in the Occupational Therapy program at Columbia University, and worked for some years in a children's hospital near Hartford, Connecticut.
Eventually, Auch began illustrating for Pennywhistle Press, a national children's newspaper, which led to an interest in illustrating children's books. In the summer of 1984, Auch took a week-long children's writing conference on Cape Cod. Auch finally knew that she wanted to a writer when an instructor told her that sometimes artists find they can paint better pictures with words.
She began sending manuscripts to publishers, writing four novels before she sold the first one. She then sold a second book to another publisher the same week. She continued writing books for older kids, abandoning her dream of illustrating for a while. After writing nine books, she wrote and illustrated The Easter Egg Farm, and has done both ever since.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8The harsh realities of the frontier are brought to life through the eyes of 11-year-old Remembrance Nye. When her father decides the family is leaving their Connecticut home and moving to the Genesee County, NY, wilderness, the Nyes must prepare for the long trek. Mem's favorite horse is traded for oxen and the family goods are sold to neighbors. The girl learns about the dangers of the wilderness when she falls out of the wagon and is separated from her family, but after some searching and circling, she is reunited with them. After a treacherous and eventful journey, the Nyes reach their new home, and their difficult life continues. Mrs. Nye is frightened and lonely until her husband locates some neighbors, who offer to help in the building of their cabin, and the family becomes part of the community. Mem's strong character and her dislike of "women's work" make her a good match for the wilderness and all of its perils. Without giving a history lesson, Auch teaches readers about everyday life in the early 1800s, thus keeping them interested in the continuous action and appealing characters.Allison Trent Bernstein, Blake Middle School, Medfield, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Migrating from Connecticut to upstate New York in 1815, 11-year-old Mem's family meets one near-fatal disaster after another. "The concept of hapless pioneers is deliciously intriguing," said PW. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) r (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Preschool) Cousins's much-loved mouse Maisy appears in her usual bright, bold colors in a simple and effective counting book. The generous-sized pic-tures on white backgrounds will help children find the objects to be counted: one ladybug on the end of Maisy's nose, two flowers in front of Maisy's house, three buckles on her pirate costume....Ten fleas on an elephant pal end the count, and a final spread shows simple rows of flowers in groups of one to ten, with numbers in both numeral and word form. This eye-catching, oversized board book is simultaneously published with the less successful Maisy's Colors, whose concept is regrettably muddied, as the featured color is sometimes difficult to di (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In 1815, Mem's father decides that the family will sell their Connecticut farm and nearly everything else they own to load up a wagon and make the long and hazardous trek to a new home in the Genesee Country of upstate New York. Mem and her mother see it as a journey to nowhere, to a desolate place with no house, no neighbors, no school--just endless forest. The trip is difficult from the start. After an unpleasant encounter with some turkey drovers, Mem gets separated from her family and seems hopelessly lost; the wagon turns over on a rickety bridge and much of the food and their few other possessions are washed away. The family pig--almost ready to birth a litter that will be needed on the new farm--is killed by a wolf, and Mem, too, is almost killed twice, first by a bear, and then by falling tree. Pleasant surprises await them at their new home: neighbors who pitch in to raise the family's cabin and barn, a real town only a day's journey away, and a school. It's an exciting tale, but the novel's real strength lies in the interesting characters and homely details of life on the frontier nearly two centuries ago, when Connecticut and New York were separated by more than a few hours on the interstate. From Auch (Eggs Mark the Spot, 1996, etc.), good historical details and a rattling good adventure. (Fiction. 10-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-7. The first book of a proposed Genesee Trilogy introduces 11-year-old Remembrance, her parents, and her younger brother, who travel from Connecticut to western New York State in 1815. Along the way they encounter the usual hardships--violent thunderstorms, raging rivers, dangerous wild animals, and hostile terrain--before reaching Genesee County, where Papa has decided to settle. Many westward-movement novels simply pit a loving family against the forces of nature, but Mem has to contend with her pig-headed father as well. Time after time, Papa pushes unreasonably and refuses to seek prudent advice, which results in unnecessary setbacks and several near-death experiences for his wife and children. A well-written, realistic, and thoroughly researched novel, this will fill the bill for sophisticated historical fiction fans ready for a little grit. --Kay Weisman
Table of Contents
Breaking the Ties to Home | p. 3 |
The First Steps to a New Life | p. 14 |
The Turkey Drovers | p. 24 |
The Missing Locket | p. 37 |
Mountain Screamer | p. 46 |
Snakebite | p. 56 |
Friend in a Cabin | p. 70 |
Belle's Tavern | p. 81 |
Alive or Dead? | p. 90 |
Wolves in the Dark | p. 98 |
Fire on the Lake | p. 109 |
The Line Between East and West | p. 115 |
The Taste of Dirt | p. 125 |
Bear Meat | p. 138 |
All Alone | p. 151 |
A Bowlful of Guts | p. 164 |
Setting a Trap | p. 181 |
The Chinking Is Stinking | p. 189 |
Author's Note | p. 198 |