Frances Bonney Jenner
Turning History Into Story
Prairie Journey
12-year-old Savannah Clarke lives with her sister Faye and parents on a farm in Missouri. But their land’s worn out and her father insists they find new land in California, 2000 miles away.
It’s 1850 and the journey will take months in a covered wagon pulled by oxen. Savannah knows her heart and it says “stay.” Stay with her best friend Mark, living Just a hair’s breadth away, her newborn pigs suckling in the barnyard, and peach trees bursting into bloom come spring.
Still, she has no choice; she must go, even though there’s trouble ahead and tragedy, and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.
“
The book is intended for ages 8 to 80. And it may be one of the best books ever written about leaving the cornfields and heading for the goldfields. It can take its place with books like Little House on the Prairie, The Tree in the Trail, Love Song to the Plains and many other classics of the westward expansion movement. A perfect complement to any school curriculum dealing with the subject.
“
Amazon Review
“
What pulled me in most was Jenner’s poetic language. The lyrics of one who loves the land. Her words contain gentle exuberance, wide-eyed observations, and a nomad’s heart. She brings the same care and enthusiasm to her characters, especially Savannah is so alive and real as she encounters her own shortcomings, strengths and growth along the grueling trail.
“
Carolyn Jennings
“
Sprinkled with Savannah’s poetry, Jenner is an adept storyteller, weaving
several sub-plots into the long treacherous trip. I see Savannah as a genuine character. The sort of person who could survive in such harsh circumstances while others ended up in the many graves which came to mark the trail.
“
Portland Book Review, Sheli Ellsworth,
TV Interview
Listen to Frances Bonney Jenner share insight into her award winning book Prairie Journey. (or sth like that…)
Chapter One
Take a read. The entire first chapter of Prairie Journey is available for you to read. Free of charge!!
Billy The Kid
It’s Silver City, New Mexico, 1874. Billy, thirteen, can sing and dance better than anybody. But that won’t save his dying mother Catherine. Desperate, he plans to rob a local store for money to buy medicine. When his plans go awry, Catherine rails at him, fearing for his future. After his promise to do right, Billy tangles with bullies and is expelled from school. His mother dies the very next day, and he blames himself for her death.
Fifteen, penniless and on his own, Billy is betrayed and unjustly jailed. He escapes and lands in lawless Lincoln County, New Mexico. At eighteen, he seeks justice for a powerful wild west gang’s murder of his boss and their abuse of his Hispano friends. He wants to be good for his long dead mother, but how can he when there is injustice he must fight against? Will he survive and build a life with the woman he loves, or will his mother’s prophecy that he dies by the noose come to pass?
Anne Bonny
My mother, Ann Bonney, loved sharing her name with 18th century pirate, Anne Bonny (different spelling).
In a romantic sense, my mother expressed pirate energy, imagining Anne’s adventurous life, and admiring a woman who would defy the norm that pirates are only men.
I am curious about the circumstances that led to Anne becoming a pirate and living a
pirate’s life. In honor of my mother, I hope to discover Anne’s true nature and to write her story.
Guns
” GUNS is a book of many separate stories.
You can read one or two at a time and then come back to the book when you want. The authors and the periods of the stories are diverse, and all the stories are solid and strong. And a lot of them are also fun. Some are fiction and some actually happened.
I read one or two at night and saved the rest for later, trying to make the book last. I don’t think you have to have guns or use guns to love these stories. They are really about people who had to make some life changing choices. “
Fred Burstein
