Central Kansas Library System

Eleven-year-old John Hale has already survived one brutal Dakota winter, and now he's about to experience one of the deadliest blizzards in American history. The storm of 1888 was a monster, a frozen hurricane that slammed into America's midwest without warning. Within hours, America's prairie would be buried under ten feet of snow. Hundreds would be dead, thousands terrified and lost and freezing. John never wanted to move to the wide-open prairie....

When John Hale's parents moved from Chicago to a farm in the Dakota Territory in the late 1880s, he was not happy (too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and that is just the beginning); but after a year, and now eleven, he has settled in and made some friends at school--but when a sunny day in January 1888 turns abruptly into a deadly blizzard he will need all his strength and courage to survive what became known to history as The Children's Blizzard....

"Sheriff Caleb Stenesrude climbs over the gate in a blizzard and reaches up in time to catch the woman as she falls. To his astonishment, a small child, hanging on for dear life, falls with her. Under his breath he thanks the good Lord for bringing them this far and for a dog with a nose and ears to beat all. As the North Dakota storm continues to scream outside the house on the edge of town, Caleb tries to tend to the near-frozen mother and boy....

Professor Henry Whiteoak is a liar and a swindler recently chased out of Kansas after a daring bank robbery. Even when he heads into Montana where his reputation isn't quite so widespread, Whiteoak finds himself in the sights of bounty hunters looking to cash in a reward posted by some unhappy fellows who want him to answer for his crimes with his life. Corey Maynard is another thief who has worked with Whiteoak on several occasions and decides to...