Bound for Oregon - Softcover

Van Leeuwen, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803715269 ISBN 13: 9780803715264

Publisher: Dial, 1994

Synopsis

A fictionalized account of the journey made by nine-year-old Mary Ellen Todd and her family from their home in Arkansas westward over the Oregon Trail in 1852

About this title

Reviews

Grade 4-6-Adding details about events and people to an account of Mary Ellen Todd's 2,000-mile trek from Arkansas to Oregon in the 1850s as written down by Todd's daughter, Van Leeuwen has created a historical novel told in the voice of a 10-year-old child. The story begins with the preparations and the difficulty of leaving home and family. It chronicles the hardships the family encountered: raging rivers to cross, bad weather, sickness and death, limited food, and the constant push to beat the first snows of winter. There are also small pleasures, including the birth of a brother. Readers will see how choices made often make the difference between success or failure, life or death. Characterizations are well done, showing the varying personalities of people on the trail. For example, the determination and faith of the father are shown consistently as the basis for his actions. This is a convincing picture of a pioneer journey that does a good job of showing the tremendous sacrifices people made to follow their dream of a better life.
Jane Gardner Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Basing her story on the published accounts of her true-life heroine, Mary Ellen Todd, Van Leeuwen (Going West; the Oliver and Amanda Pig series) describes a family's tumultuous journey along the Oregon Trail in 1852. En route to a "beautiful land of promise," nine-year-old Mary Ellen, her two sisters and her father and stepmother find themselves beset by all manner of dramas, from the dog being allowed an unprecedented ride in the wagon when his paws are sore to a near-fatal brush with cholera and an attack by Indians. Mary Ellen's first-person narration is innocent, fresh and heartfelt ("Never, I thought, had I seen a world so large," she says of the plains of Nebraska), and capable of conveying darker feelings as well. She is "furious" with her father for imperiling his family; when her stepmother frowns at her for dirtying her dress, she thinks, "My real mother wouldn't care about a few grass stains." The novel ends on a sweet note, however, with the birth of a baby and the celebration of Christmas, when each family member thanks God for the family's safe arrival in Oregon ("I am thankful that Blackie gave us milk all the way through"). The contrast between the tenderness of Mary Ellen's perceptions and the hardships of the frontier is deeply moving. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4-6. Based on the "original account of Mary Ellen Todd's Oregon Trail journey," this first-person novel recounts a family's adventures as they travel by covered wagon in 1852. Nine-year-old Mary Ellen narrates the story, which begins with her reluctance to leave Arkansas and her beloved grandma and ends with the family's first Christmas in their new home. Most of the book is a description of life on the road, where the family encounters a little of everything: fear, loss, sickness, sadness, madness, kindness, courage, love, hope, and deliverance. The appealing narrator, the forthright telling, and the concrete details of life along the Oregon Trail will draw readers into the story. In an intriguing afterword, Van Leeuwen offers information on her research and some sidelights on the Todds. A fine, fictional introduction to life on the Oregon Trail. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Dial
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803715269
• ISBN 13: 9780803715264
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176