Book 3

Our Kansas Home

by Deborah Hopkinson

Published 1 February 2003
Danger Close To Home

Papa is in danger for helping to rescue a free-state settler who was unjustly arrested by Kansas's proslavery sheriff. He has gone into hiding, and Momma and the Keller children are alone in their remote cabin while marauding border ruffians are roaming the countryside, looking for livestock to steal.
But there's a lot more at stake at the Keller homestead than their chickens and cows. Charlie has come upon Lizzie, a runaway slave girl trying to make her way to freedom in Canada, and the Kellers are hiding her at their cabin. With the violence in Kansas Territory escalating, the Underground Railroad isn't running. Can Charlie and his family keep Lizzie safe until she can escape from Kansas?

Westward Ho!
Congress has ruled that settlers in Kansas Territory will decide whether Kansas will enter the Union as a free or a slave state. Charlie Keller's papa is an abolitionist, and he's moving the family to Kansas so he can cast his vote for freedom.
Papa and Momma, big sister Ida Jane, even baby Sophie, seem excited about being pioneers -- but not Charlie. Why couldn't they stay back home in Massachusetts with Grandpa and with Charlie's beloved old dog, Danny, who is too old to make the trip? Turning the wild Kansas prairie into a farm is hard work, filled with worries and danger. Will Kansas ever feel like home to Charlie?

Cabin in the Snow

by Deborah Hopkinson

Published 1 September 2002
STORMS ARE BREWING
When Charlie and Papa arrive in Lawrence for supplies, they find the bustling Kansas town threatened by border ruffians from proslave Missouri. Papa decides to remain behind with other free-soil settlers to defend the town, so Charlie must drive the wagon back to the family's isolated claim by himself.
At home a different sort of storm is brewing -- gray skies, bitter cold, and vicious winds warn that a prairie blizzard is coming. Charlie is always getting into trouble for daydreaming and forgetting his chores. Now he has to show he's grown-up enough to help Momma, his sisters, and his newborn baby brother survive in their tiny cabin in the snow.