Young Pioneers Book

A story of frontier love and courage...

Newlyweds Molly and David are only sixteen and eighteen years old when they pack up their wagon and head west across the plains in search of a new homestead. At first their new life is full of promise: The wheat is high, the dugout is warm and cozy, and a new baby is born to share in their happiness. Then disaster strikes, and David must go east for the winter to find work. Molly is left alone with the baby — with nothing but her own courage to face the dangers of the harsh prairie winter.

Children's Literature

In this classic tale of love and hardship on the frontier, Rose Wilder Lane tells the story of Molly and David, teenage newlyweds carving out a life for themselves during the westward expansion of the late nineteenth century. The pioneers travel west in a covered wagon, file a homestead claim, set up housekeeping in a dugout, have a baby, and start a promising wheat crop. Along the way, Molly and David face many of the struggles that will be familiar to readers of the beloved "Little House" books (written by Lane's mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder), including encounters with wolves, blizzards, plagues of grasshoppers, and the loneliness of the open prairie. When disaster strikes, Molly discovers courage, determination, and a resourcefulness she never knew she had. Simple, forceful language and a strong, believable protagonist make this novel almost as compelling a read as the real-life stories by the elder Wilder. 1998 (orig.