It is the spring of 1815, and eleven-year-old Remembrance "Mem" Nye is leaving the comforts of her farm in Hartland, Connecticut, to settle in the wilderness of western New York. Lured by the promise of a better life in the Genesee Country, Mem and her family set off in a covered wagon.

Here is the story of Mem's unforgettable journey as she becomes separated from her family and then, after being reunited, almost loses them in a flood. The book illustrates the hardships of travel in the early pioneer days, when the wilderness was more thickly populated with bears, wolves, and mountain lions than with human beings. As Mem helps her family establish a foothold in the new land, she learns the importance of community and strong family connections.

One of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year

M.J. Auch's profile page

• Oklahoma Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award
• Missouri Mark Twain Award
• IRA Young Adult Choices

Mary Jane Auch has written a number of well-received novels, including Seven Long Years Until College andKidnapping Kevin Kowalski. She has also written and illustratedEggs Mark the Spot,Hen Lake, and other picture books.

The author was inspired to write a historical novel after learning of the summer of 1816, when snow fell in upstate New York in June and hard frosts killed the crops in July and August. As she began writing about the Nye family, who moved to New York State from Connecticut right before that fateful summer, she realized that she needed to start her story in Connecticut, where the Nyes began their journey. Thus was born the idea of writing a trilogy about the Nye family, starting withJourney to Nowhere.

Ms. Auch, the mother of two grown children lives with her husband in Ontario, New York, in the Genesee Country, where her novel takes place and where her ancestors settled in the early nineteenth century.

"It is an exciting tale, but the novel's real strength lies in the interesting characters and homely details of life on the frontier nearly two centuries ago....Good historical details and a rattling good adventure."--Kirkus Reviews

"A well-written, realistic, and thoroughly researched novel, this will fill the bill for sophisticated historical fiction fans ready for a little grit."--Booklist