Sid and the Orphans

During the early years of the Civil War, fifteen-year-old Sid, her younger brother and her Pa leave Missouri with a wagon train on their way to the Colorado Territory. Sid does not want to leave her mother's grave, but Pa says they must go help his brother, who has a broken leg, and they need to get away from the war before he is conscripted to fight. Along the way they find an abandoned girl, Sid delivers a stillborn colt, and a dying woman's baby. Indians attack the wagon train, and horse thieves try to steal their animals. The struggles continue after they reach the ranch, but Sid, a tomboy with a take charge attitude, can ride, shoot and handle almost any problem that comes her way. The family files on homesteads as Sid fights her inner fears and her love for one of the young men she helped to survive the harsh western life.

Fifteen-year-old Sid obeys her pa and packs to leave for the Colorado Territory, but vows she will return to her mama's grave in a few years. Sid's mama taught her to dance, cook, sew, and doctor the sick and injured. He pa taught her to ride, to hunt and shoot. She takes charge of the orphans they collect along the way, and the household chores and cooking at the farm.

Nancy Glenn Powell was raised on an Arkansas farm with one brother and six sisters. She is married, likes living in the country, and retired from the City of Fort Smith to pursue her dream of writing. "Sid and the Orphans" is her ninth published book. Nancy has won awards for poetry, short stories, and novels.