I love to read history because I love good stories. Dates are interesting—it’s helpful to know when things happened—but it’s the stories of people doing the most amazing things, things that often change the world, that grab my imagination.

In these books I have set out to tell tales of history in such a way that they come alive with “real” young people in “real” situations. The long journey to the American west has often been written about, but not often, I think, from the point of view of young people.

The trip west was not glamorous, but it was amazing. It took courage, hard work, and heartache it make it happen. It’s that which I’ve tried to capture.