Across the Plains in the Donner Party - Hardcover

Murphy, Virginia Reed; Reed, James Frazier

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0208024042 ISBN 13: 9780208024046

Publisher: Linnet Books, 1996

Synopsis

The memoirs of a teenage survivor of the ill-fated Donner Party, which was trapped in the snows of the Sierra Nevada mountains 150 years ago

About this title

About the Author:

George Rippey Stewart (May 31, 1895 August 22, 1980) was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his only science fiction novel Earth Abides (1949), a post-apocalyptic novel, for which he won the first International Fantasy Award in 1951. It was dramatized on radio's Escape and inspired Stephen King's The Stand.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6 Up?This noteworthy recounting of the Donner party and its gruesome end should be a sure success. Zeinert presents, along with introductory material and editorial commentary, the edited memoirs of survivor Virginia Reed Murphy, age 12 during the trip; the letters and diary of Virginia's stepfather; as well as excerpts from the journal of Patrick Breen, who faithfully recorded all of the horrific events that befell the Donners and their fellow emigrants. It is fascinating to compare the different accounts; Virginia does not mention any cannibalism, but nevertheless gives a realistic picture with a minimum of flowery 19th-century prose, written 45 years after the event. James Reed's early letters to the newspaper back home exhibit a macho brashness and confidence, while his later diary entries reveal underlying emotions of anguish and fear. Zeinert explains what encouraged the Donner and Reed families to undertake this arduous overland journey cross country in the spring of 1846. Primary sources and additions by Zeinert also show why the party became stranded and the foolishness of some of its decisions. In later life Virginia's advice to friends in Illinois was, "Bring nothing but provisions and just enough clothing to last until you get here, and don't take any cutoffs." Chronologies, maps, and reproductions of historical photographs accompany a bibliography of sources and a list of books for further reading.?David A. Lindsey, Lakewood High and Middle School Libraries, WA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Linnet Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0208024042
• ISBN 13: 9780208024046
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 112