In the spring of 1846, a group of families left Illinois and began the long journey to California. To save time, they took an ill-advised shortcut─with disastrous consequences. Bad weather, bad choices, and just plain bad luck forced the pioneers to spend a long, cold winter in the mountains, slowly starving. What they did to stay alive and the lengths that others went in order to rescue t…
For a child in the great city of Venice in the thirteenth century, there could be nothing better than the stories of sailors. There were stories animals, wonderful cities, sweet spices, and terrible wild deserts where a traveller could die. One young boy listened, waited, and dreamed. Perhaps one day his father and uncle would return. Perhaps he too could travel with them to great markets in fa…