Synopses & Reviews
Maude must fend for herself in the mining town of Eldorado, New Mexico, after her mother dies and her father's "gold fever" inspires him to take off for the Yukon. Her strong desire to leave the frontier town and become an artist makes her take a job in a boarding house. But young women on their own with no money in the 1890s are not only frowned upon, they are looked at with scorn and suspicion. For Maude, whose strong will tends to get her in trouble, her new life can seem downright unbearable. Luckily, the few special friendships she does form help her achieve her dream.
Review
"A spirited adventure with deftly drawn characters, well-integrated period details, a lively and sharply focused style, and a memorable heroine." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Cushmans heroine is a delightful character, and the historical setting is authentically portrayed. Lucys story, as the author points out in her end notes, is the story of many pioneer women who exhibited great strength and courage as they helped to settle the West."
School Library Journal, starred
"The recent Newbery medalist plunks down two more strong-minded women, this time in an 1849 mining camp—a milieu far removed from the Middle Ages of her first novels, but not all that different when it comes to living standards. . . . With a story that is less a period piece than a timeless and richly comic coming-of-age story, Cushman remains on a roll."
Kirkus Reviews with Pointers
Synopsis
Maude must fend for herself in the mining town of Eldorado when her mother dies and her father's "gold fever" inspires him to take off for the Yukon. Her strong desire to leave the frontier town and become an artist makes her take a job in a boarding house, where she forms special friendships that will help her achieve her dream.
Synopsis
Newbery Honor and Medal winner Karen Cushman's classic novel of the American Gold Rush follows the distraught twelve-year-old Lucy as her family moves from Massachusetts to a small California mining town.
Synopsis
In 1849 a twelve-year-old girl who calls herself Lucy is distraught when her mother moves the family from Massachusetts to a small California mining town. There Lucy helps run a boarding house and looks for comfort in books while trying to find a way to return "home."
About the Author
Joann Mazzio is also the author of The One Who Came Back and a Robert and Charlotte Barron Fellow of the American Antiquarian Society. She lives in Silver City, New Mexico.