Charlotte's Rose

Charlotte's Rose is a book about a young teen who takes on a chalange of caring for a baby whos Mom died giving birth and Dad is not ready to take care of her. This book has a small bit of romance and action. But mostly about a young teen who is trying to show everyone (including John her boyfriend/crush)that she is not a young girl anymore.

Ann Cannon brings to the national market the tender story of twelve-year-old Charlotte, a Welsh immigrant who crossed America with a handcart company. Along the Mormon trail, Charlotte volunteers to care for the baby daughter of a woman who has died. At first, she is proud of herself, believing she has shown the adults that she is nearly a woman. But she soon realizes how difficult a task she has undertaken. Charlotte is frustrated by the baby's cries, her own lack of sleep, and not being able to spend the time she would like with John, who she wants to see her as more than a child. Eventually she can stand it no longer and she leaves the baby sleeping beneath the handcart on a rest stop, going on a walk with John instead of taking care of her obligation. When she returns, the baby is gone. Charlotte searches frantically, but finds the infant Charlotte has named Rose being cared for by Catherine Jones, a strange woman with a marked scar on her face. This coming of age novel demonstrates that the feelings that come into the hearts of adolescents remain the same through all generations. Read this one with a box of tissues handy.

This book describes one of the many Mormon journeys to what they called Zion (now Salt Lake City). Some of these brave folks pushed and pulled 700 pound hand-carts from Iowa City to the Great Basin. The story has a good mix of charactes and illustrates the trials and emotions experienced by these adventurers. I am a gentile (non-Mormon), and I enjoyed the story.