Includes discussion questions.

Based on true events, this compelling survival story by award-winning novelist Jane Kirkpatrick is full of grit and endurance. 1844. The Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mostly Irish Catholics, the party sought religious freedom and education in the mission-dominated land. When a heavy snowstorm hits in October, the party separates in three directions. Now young Mary Sullivan, newlywed Sarah Montgomery, widowed Ellen Murphy, and her pregnant sister-in-law Maolisa each risks losing those they loved. Two women and four men go overland around Lake Tahoe, three men stay to guard the heaviest wagons-- and eight women and seventeen children, huddled in a cabin at the headwaters of the Yuba River. Waiting for rescue ... or death. -- adapted from back cover.