TREE WAGON

A captivating pioneer story follows the Luelling family on their trek from Indiana to Oregon where they are among the first to settle and have their part in the extensive fruit tree farms of the Willamette Valley. Twelve year old Seenie Luelling, impulsive and highly imaginative, makes a perfect heroine. Seenie's unhappiness at having to leave her cat and kittens behind is replaced with pride when her father gives her a gooseberry bush to care for as her own. The long journey, the wagons with their delicate burdens and a large family are a background for Seenie's delightful and vivid experiences -- river crossings, frightened (and frightening) Indians, new friends along the trail, intermittent brushes with her friend and rival, Peter, and a growing responsibility. And in Oregon, there's high promise for the future. Robert Frankenberg's drawings add atmosphere to a very real book.