November 15, 2011
Addy has spent her life perfecting her skills as a trick rider with her father's Wild West show. It's the only real home she's ever known, and it was a life her father loved before he died. When she learns that "Uncle" Jason, her father's trusted manager, has run the show into the ground and has taken what little money was left, Addy decides to find the hidden valley where her father had longed to settle. All she knows is that the valley is marked by three special stones. With two of her closest confidants, she embarks on a new adventure. VERDICT Launching a new historical series, the prolific Snelling ("Home to Blessing" and "Red River of the North" series) incorporates period details and well-rounded memorable characters into a lively tale that will please her many fans and attract new ones, especially those who enjoy Lynn Austin's novels. [75,000-copy first printing.]
Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2011
Award-winning inspirational historical novelist Snelling (A Heart for Home, 2011) launches a new series titled Wild West Wind. In the opening tale, Cassie Lockwood's life is turned upside down when the Wild West show she's been a part of her whole life shuts down. With no family and nowhere to call home, Cassie leaves with Chief and Micah and several of the show's animals. Their goal is to find Cassie's father's valley of dreams in South Dakota, a place she has heard about as a child but has never seen. Meanwhile, the Engstrom family is trying to make ends meet on their South Dakota ranch. Times are tough in 1906, and Mavis and her sons Ransom and Lucas must run everything alone. Gretchen, 12, helps, but she's busy with school most days. The narrative swings between the two stories, and it soon becomes clear that the two deceased fathers had a plan for their families. As Cassie makes her way toward the Engstroms, both groups endure hardship, relying on their faith to get them through.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)