Earthquake in Cincinnati

This is the fourteenth book in The American Adventure series. This series tells about the lives of children from many generations of a fictional family throughout American history, from the settling of Plymouth by the Pilgrims through the end of World War II. It's the fall of 1811 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fourteen-year-old George Lankford is very excited about the New Orleans, the first steamship to travel on the Ohio River. He wants to build his own steam engine, perhaps to power a small boat, but his failed experiment only gets him in trouble with his parents, who forbid him to do any more experiments with steam. George decides to build a different kind of boat, with the help of another boy, Charles. George is hesitant to befriend Charles, because the other boy has terrible scars on his face after being burned as a young child. Although George doesn't judge Charles, some of the other boys at school do, and it makes him uncomfortable. And soon he has more worries, as a series of unexpected earthquakes shake Cincinnati. This was a pretty good book from the American Adventure series. I was a little disappointed that the earthquakes didn't play more of a role in the story, however. Given the title of the book, I thought they'd be one of the main focuses, but the first one didn't show up until about halfway through the book. Still, I did enjoy this book, and would recommend it to other readers who enjoy the books in this series.