The Devil's Paintbox
Kindle Edition
Random House Children's Books · Ebook · November 12, 2013
When almost-16-year-old Aiden Lynch and his little sister, Maddy, first meet trailrider Jefferson J. Jackson, they're eating clay and hunting grasshoppers on the remains of their family's drought-ravaged Kansas farm.
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- Who it’s for
- A hard-won journey west balances the Oregon Trail’s dangers with the promise of a new life.
- Genres
- 19th-Century US YA, Westerns, YA Orphan & Foster Stories
- Published
- Random House Children's Books, November 12, 2013
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For younger readers: The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming, The Oregon Trail: Alone in the Wild, Bound for Oregon
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Start with this bookAbout this book
When almost-16-year-old Aiden Lynch and his little sister, Maddy, first meet trailrider Jefferson J. Jackson, they're eating clay and hunting grasshoppers on the remains of their family's drought-ravaged Kansas farm. In short, the two orphans are starving to death, so when this man Jackson offers an escape—a 2000-mile journey across the roughest country in the world—Aiden knows it's their only choice.
Continue reading
They say there are a hundred ways to die on the Oregon Trail, and the long wagon journey is broken only by catastrophe: wolf attacks, tornadoes, rattlesnakes, deadly river crossings, Indians, and the looming threat of smallpox, "the devil's paint." But with the sky a cornflower blue and the air sweet with new prairie grass, Aiden and Maddy and a hundred fellow travelers move forward with a growing hope, and the promise of a new life in the Washington Territory. Adventure-filled and historically accurate, Victoria McKernan captures both the peril and stunning beauty of the frontier West in an epic American story at once sweeping and intimate, heartbreaking and hopeful.
Peril and Promise
A hard-won journey west balances the Oregon Trail’s dangers with the promise of a new life.
Come here for
- A perilous Oregon Trail journey with historical detail
- Frontier beauty set against hunger, illness, and danger
Expect
- Intimate family stakes inside a sweeping frontier adventure
- A mix of catastrophe, open-country beauty, and growing hope
Where it sits
| 19th-Century US YA | 88% |
|---|---|
| YA Orphan & Foster Stories | 52% |
| Westerns | 42% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Sibling Stories
- 19th-Century US YA
- Westerns
- Authors
- Victoria McKernan
- Publisher
- Random House Children's Books
- Published
- November 12, 2013
- Format
- Ebook
- Reading lane
- YA Sibling Stories