A mining accident, not an uncommon tragedy in Butte, Montana's copper mines in 1914, upsets 11-year-old Emmie Hynes's world. With no help available from the mining company that tookEmmie's father's life, her mother takes Emmie and her brother Conrad across the mountain to the small town of Philipsburg so she can eke out a living by operating a boarding house.
Joe Henry's Journey, by Marcia Melton, a historical novel for young readers, follows eleven-year-old Joe Henry Grummond and his Pa on an often perilous journey to find gold. When they board a steamboat to go up the "Big Muddy" Missouri River to Fort Benton, Montana, in 1862, they hope to escape the desperation of the Civil War in their home state of Kentucky and make money in the gold fields of Montana to take back to the family they leave behind.Little does Joe Henry know that this river trip will lead him to untamed wild places where ambush, robberies, claim jumpers, lawless towns, and back-breaking work are the everyday stuff of life in the Bannack, Montana, gold camp. Along the way, Joe Henry learns about many different kinds of people living in the west, finds a best friend, and meets the prettiest girl he's ever seen. He learns much more than how to pan gold. This frontier territory brings lessons in the struggle between law and lawlessness, vigilantism, and the question of what is justice.This novel accurately portrays the history of its time and places from the viewpoint of a child and wrapped in a story of adventure that will hold a young reader's interest.
Tag along with courageous, twelve-year-old Ben Grummond during his remarkable summer of 1889, as he tells about an accident which resulted in big challenges for him, especially with his eyesight. He wonders how he will ever be able to do his schoolwork and worries about keeping up his chores on his family's ranch. He does his best to live a normal life, but it's hard for him to overcome many things at the same time. When a chance comes to travel with his father who is going to Helena, Montana, to participate in efforts for statehood, Ben commits to six weeks away from the ranch. He meets a teacher who may be able to help him learn to live with his eyesight trouble or even overcome it. New friends and adventures in a new place and with people he had never dreamed he would meet may be the boost Ben needs to meet his challenges. The exciting backdrop of historic Montana on the brink of statehood and a young man's growing into new ways of seeing what life can bring provide an exciting and thoughtful read.
