Showing results by author "Susan Marlow" in All Categories

Winter in Goldtown, California, is rarely harsh. But this year snow covers the whole area. No one can get out to pan for gold in the icy creek for weeks on end. There’s never been a winter like this in all Jem’s eight years. That means all the wild critters are coming down to the low country looking for food to stay alive. It isn’t all bad, though - animals mean Pa can put out a trapline to make some money for the family. Jem goes along to help with the traps. But a sudden storm leaves them both stranded in the wilderness.

Jem is turning eight years old. And there's just one thing he wants for his birthday: a prospecting trip with Strike-It-Rich Sam. With his grown-up friend to watch out for him, Jem's parents say yes. It's off for two weeks in the mountains to find gold! But this trip isn't going as planned. There are more tall tales from Sam than there are deep pockets of gold ore.

It's 1859. Seven-year-old Jem Coulter's family is trying to make a go of it in Goldtown, California, with Pa panning for gold and Mama baking pies and washing laundry to make ends meet. Jem and his little sister Ellie do everything they can to help out. But it's hard to help when Will Sterling, a rich boy with a mean streak, picks on Jem every time he runs errands for Mama.

Jem needs to buy food for his dog Gold Nugget. But try as he may, his panning just never leads to gold. When he asks for a job, Mr. Sims, the café owner, sends him out to catch bullfrogs for the menu. Money and frog-catching - what a great solution for this active boy! But Nugget and Jem's little sister Ellie get in the way and ruin his plans. When he argues with Ellie, she stomps off in a huff, and Jem can get back to work.

Jem can't wait for school to let out for the year. Is there anything more boring than class when you could be outside? When rich boy Will brings a coin collection to school, it's an exciting treat. It isn't often the students get to see all that interesting money in one place. Then, a silver dollar goes missing during recess, and Jem is blamed!

Jem Coulter’s pa, the sheriff of Goldtown, is away on a trip to deliver a prisoner to Sacramento, and he has left Jem in charge of the ranch - along with Aunt Rose, that is. No sooner is the sheriff gone, then trouble starts. A dead calf, a mysterious stranger, and then, Pa’s horse Copper and his prize rifle are stolen. And Pa’s deputies seem unconcerned.

Andi Carter has just turned nine. She and her palomino, Taffy, are old enough to be a real horse-and-rider pair at last! With a beautiful new saddle, Andi's sure she is ready to learn to trick ride like her friend Riley used to do before he left the ranch. Sadly, big brother Chad knocks down any trick-riding plans, but Andi cheers up when she discovers a new friend at her special spot. Her fun with Sadie is soon threatened, though. They are caught in the middle of a boundary quarrel between the two families. Both Sadie's pa and Chad are stubborn as mules and neither will back down.

When Fresno is hit with an unexpected outbreak of deadly scarlet fever, Andi Carter is scared. Her town friends are getting sick and school is closed until it passes. Far from the danger, at least Andi has her horse Taffy and plenty of work on the Circle C ranch to distract her. But is she really safe? First one ranch hand, then two, and then her brother Mitch fall ill. Mother is convinced that the only way to protect Andi from this terrible disease is to send her far away to fussy Aunt Rebecca in San Francisco.

Andi Carter has gold fever! Someone near town has struck it rich. Now Andi can't stop wondering if there might be some of the glittery metal in the creeks on the Circle C ranch. Her brothers agree that she might find something that sparkles. But they laugh whenever they talk about it. Andi is determined - when she finds gold, she'll be the one laughing!

This is so embarrassing. Andi's teacher, Miss Hall, is sick - and Mother is the substitute teacher...But it turns out embarrassment is the last thing Andi needs to worry about when two outlaws kidnap Andi and her mother after school in a case of mistaken identity! Now they're being held in a remote cabin until Mother can teach the man in charge how to read - and he's willing to go to any length to make it happen. Andi must escape and find help. But can she lead a rescue party back to Mother before the outlaws take their new teacher - and disappear forever?

The summer after Andi Carter turns nine the circus comes to town. She can't wait to get in line to see the elephants, acrobats, and - most of all - the champion bareback rider. What could be more thrilling than riding your very own horse under the big top?

Twelve-year-old "Andi" Carter attracts trouble the way her palomino horse, Taffy, attracts flies on a hot summer day. Lately, she can't do anything right, from forgetting important chores to putting herself in danger with her brother Chad's wild stallion. After a particularly scary incident where Andi gets in trouble once again, she wonders if her family would be better off without her. So she saddles up Taffy and leaves the Circle C ranch. But her escape quickly leads to frightening encounters with a horse thief and a vicious young lady.

It's not fair! In book three, if Andi can't take her new foal, Taffy, to the 1874 California State Fair, she doesn't want to go. What fun is a fair if Taffy can't win a blue ribbon? But the fair turns out to be so exciting that Andi is glad she came...until big brother Chad tells her she can't keep the prize she won fair and square!

In Andi's Lonely Little Foal, Taffy is growing up too quickly. Soon, the little foal will have to leave her mama and stay by herself at night. When a mean boy tells Andi about the scary things that happen when a foal is separated from its mother, Andi wonders if she can keep her little horse safe!

Andi's holiday is spoiled when a grumpy, bossy visitor arrives. No more running. No catching spiders. No wearing overalls. Can Andi do anything right? But just when Andi thinks the fun is lost forever, she learns that she can help this unwelcome guest in a way she never imagined....

In book four of the Circle C Beginnings series for ages 6-8, Andi doesn't think she's afraid of anything until her first day of school. School means being away from the ranch, away from her family, and away from Taffy - and having to sit next to a boy who throws dead flies at her. Being sent to the corner for something that wasn't even her fault is the last straw. Andi is leaving. And she's not going back.

It's just a made-up story...or is it? It's the summer of 1874. Andi wishes Riley had never read her that scary old dime novel to her. Now, she can't stop thinking about being captured by Indians. Then, one hot day when she and Riley ride up to the creek, Andi hears something moving in the bushes. Is it a rabbit? Is it a skunk? Or is it...Indians?

Is escape even possible when you've been shanghaied? Jem Coulter, his family, and Strike-It-Rich Sam journey to San Francisco with the newfound gold to see if surgery can fix Nathan's broken legs. The uncertainty of Nathan's recovery leaves Jem bored and worried, so he heads how to the waterfront to explore. The merchant ships look exciting--where could they be sailing?