Counting Sunshines: Based on the True-Life Western Frontier Adventures of a Young Pioneer

“Counting Sunshines is a great reminder that we need a fresh infusion about our past, the many immigrants faced and the obstacles they overcame.” —Jerry Fabyanic, award-winning author of Sisyphus Wins and Food for Thought: Essays on the Mind and Spirit

“Anna’s story is in essence, a counterpart of the struggles which all settlers of the period experienced. And Mrs. Zajic is also a symbol—of hardship, fortitude, and faith; and of the welding of a heritage which has now passed to our hands.” —Clarence A. Schooley, editor and publisher, Friend Sentinel Newspaper

“Are we there yet?” Does that question sound familiar?

Young Anna Wancura travels for weeks with her immigrant family in search of a new home throughout Kansas and Nebraska during the 1800s. As she grows older, she learns what it takes to survive and find joy living on the new western frontier. With each of the seven moves, she keeps track of the days and miles by counting the sunshines. Join Anna and her family on their moving journey across the west-central plains and learn what it meant to be a pioneer.

Award winning author, Virginia Spinar White is the great granddaughter of Anna Wancura Zajic. When she discovered Anna's dictated autobiography to her daughters while preparing to move her father into a senior living home, she decided Anna's story must be retold, this time to a broader audience. When Virginia is not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and her three rescue cats.