The Beamy Courage of Gerta Scholler - Paperback

by Gillespie Lamb (Author)

Orphaned as a child in New York City in the middle of the 19th century, Gerta Scholler learns from a Catholic nun about always being true to herself. After traveling on a train to Kansas where an adoptive family awaits her-one of thousands of parent-less children dispatched to the interior of the country on so-called orphan trains-Gerta begins an "almost perfect" life as a much-loved member of a homesteading family. But a raid by a few renegade Indians shatters the new life and Gerta learns anew what it means to be a survivor. Always wanting "to know stuff" and ever hopeful, Gerta draws upon lessons learned to sustain her in her wandering across plains and, ultimately, in a life-or-death battle with a snarling predator.

Author Biography

Gillespie Lamb was a newspaper and freelance journalist before turning to the world of fiction. This is Lamb's first novel specifically for middle grade readers. A native Kansan, he knows the geography of the place where Gerta Scholler faces her terrible test of survival. In the course of telling her story, Lamb came away with great admiration for the girl.