Told in riveting, keenly observed poetry, a moving first-person
narrative as experienced by a young survivor of the tragic Donner Party
of 1846.
The journey west by wagon train promises to be long and arduous for
nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Graves and her parents and eight siblings.
Yet she is hopeful about their new life in California: freedom from the
demands of family, maybe some romance, better opportunities for all. But
when winter comes early to the Sierra Nevada and their group gets a late
start, the Graves family, traveling alongside the Donner and Reed
parties, must endure one of the most harrowing and storied journeys in
American history. Amid the pain of loss and the constant threat of death
from starvation or cold, Mary Ann's is a narrative, told beautifully in
verse, of a girl learning what it means to be part of a family, to make
sacrifices for those we love, and above all to persevere.