Exiled!: From Tragedy to Triumph on the Missouri Frontier

Ruthy Donohue is on trial. For murder! When the 12-year-old picked up Pa's loaded rifle and shot her friend Jeremiah dead, was it a terrible accident? Or another time when the redhead's fiery temper got the best of her? That's the exciting opening of this historical novel set in 1837. The fast pace continues when her Tennessee neighbors vandalize her family's farm, hoping to run her off. Her actions have put her family and her pet dog in danger. So Ruthy makes the biggest decision of her life. She, alone, joins a wagon train headed to the Missouri frontier. The rest of the story keeps readers turning pages to find out how Ruthy manages as the only young girl on the trip, especially, how she copes with the teasing of Will Grogan, who reminds her of the boy she shot back home. Well-researched details show the wagons rolling across the rugged land, Ruthy helping cook meals in a downpour to feed the hard-working men, wagons and mules being loaded onto ferries to cross the wide rivers, and finally the weary travelers making it to Springfield. Immediately another hard decision faces Ruthy. Will she go back home with the first wagon train headed east? Or will she stay in Missouri? Read Exiled to find out. -Sheila Wood Foard, author of the historical novel, Harvey Girl