First published 2013
Emmy Blue Hatchett's father delivers crushing news to his ten-year-old daughter. Their family must abandon their Illinois farm in 1863 and join a wagon train bound for Colorado. Emmy faces the heartbreak of leaving behind everyone she knows and loves, understanding she may never see them again. Her grandmother arrives to say farewell and presents Emmy with a meaningful gift designed to comfort her during the arduous journey ahead. The Hatchett family sets out across the frontier, where the wagon train route tests them with countless dangers and difficulties. Mile after mile, Emmy discovers what it means to survive when everything familiar disappears behind you. The family pushes forward through each trial, determined to reach their new home in Colorado territory and build a fresh start together.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Illinois, Colorado
Period: 1863
220 pages · ebook · Sleeping Bear Press