To the Frontier

If Bill had posters on the wall of his newly built frontier home, they would show Kit Carson and Jim Bridger, frontiersmen and gentlemen both, also Bill's cousin Horace Billings...and Bill's beloved father Isaac. Like Richard Peck and Harper Lee, Kimmel provides a simple definition of manhood (and womanhood): Stand your ground, keep your cool, do what's needed. Unlike today's hair-trigger instant-microwave world, the 19th century has Horace and Isaac and even Bill talk their way out of danger, rather than reach for fists and firearms.

Bill Cody is only eight-years-old when his twelve-year-old brother, Sammy, is killed while riding a wild horse. He blames himself, and knows that he should have tried harder to get Sammy not to get on the horse, but why would Sammy listen to him? Sammy was a man, Bill was just a kid. So starts TO THE FRONTIER. With the tragedy a few months behind them, the Cody family packs up and decides to leave LeClaire, Iowa, as well as the bad memories that it holds, and head towards the newly established Kansas Territory, where they hope to claim a great piece of land before anyone else can. However, Bill quickly realizes that Kansas is nothing like Iowa, as there's a real city, and the people (especially the men) are rougher than he ever expected they'd be.As a fan of historical fiction, I was ecstatic to find the new series THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG BUFFALO BILL in the local Barnes & Noble, and just knew that I had to purchase TO THE FRONTIER, as I've always been interested in reading about Buffalo Bill. What I found was a fantastic new series, that I hope to read more from in the future. Bill is a fun character, who, at the age of eight is wise beyond his years, in both the horse business, as well as the family business. His sisters are fun characters to read about, though they don't make the greatest appearance in this book, and his parents, especially his Pa, are exciting and good-natured. What makes the series even more exciting is the fact that E. Cody Kimmel is a distant relative of Buffalo Bill, so you enjoy reading what she has to write about him. All in all this was a fabulous book, and a must have for anyone interested in cowboys, Buffalo Bill, or historical fiction.Erika Sorocco