GEORGE AND THE LONG RIFLE

Twelve year old George Gray sets out for the Ohio Valley from New York State in 1819 with his older brother Silas, who has caught the ""Westering fever"". This sensitively written story mirrors the frustrations and feelings of inadequacy of this youngest of seven brothers, whose helpful efforts are sometimes less than successful. George proves his mettle in Ohio by pulling brother Silas through a deadlier kind of fever than the one that drew him westward, and discovers that his poor aim was caused by lack of eyeglasses, popularly believed to be only for old folks. A well told pioneering tale based partly on the author's family chronicles.