"I was ten years old and I still believed that life would always roll along easy and uncomplicated," Mary McHugh reminisces at the beginning of this historical tale set in 1890s Colorado gold-mining country. Life's roll takes a sudden halt the day her father gets injured in a mine accident and their secure, happy family tumbles into the grim prospect of financial ruin. Her father's lovely little wood carvings of scenes from their family life anchor Mary's narrative and help her focus on the strength of that now-threatened life. Dad's fears morph into a depression that Mary and her mother confront as they try to look forward. All too easily, perhaps, Dad's wood carvings present a business opportunity that rescues the family from insolvency and restores their quality of life. Still, this is a charming tale of family strength for recessionary times. Shelley's robust ink drawings capture the mood swings between good and bad times for the McHughs.

Mary's father is despondent after losing his leg in a mining accident. Mary's mother does her best, taking in laundry and refusing to give in to despair, but it's Mary (a character based on Danneberg's grandmother) who rescues the situation. Cartoony illustrations are a mismatch for the heartfelt text, but readers won't need them to see into Mary's world.

Gr 3-6 Mining for gold in 1890s Cripple Creek, CO, is dangerous, yet it's the way of life for the frontier families who call it home. When 10-year-old Mary McHugh's father loses his leg in a mining accident, their peaceful existence is destroyed. The once-jovial man becomes sullen and depressed when he can no longer support his family, and Mary's mother grapples with trying to make ends meet while keeping her subservient role in the household. Mary's dad has always carved wooden "Reminders" of the family and their special times, and these carvings bring both pain and comfort to the child. The story alternates between the present and past as Mary remembers happier times. She tries desperately to remind her family members of them as she schemes for a way for her father to support them again. Shelley's India ink and pen illustrations add to the historical feel of this gentle, yet gripping story. This is a heartwarming novel about overcoming hardship, but it may need to be booktalked or read to children, who may not discover this little gem on their own. Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Mary McHugh's placid life in the hard-rock gold-mining town of Cripple Creek, Colo., in the 1890s changes when her beloved father loses a leg in a mining accident. The once-lively man also loses heart, and Mary, whose spunk is undimmed by her confusion, tries to help the family recover by selling "family reminders," her father's well-executed wood carvings of memorable occasions and ordinary days in their lives. She and her mother also offer emotional strength, sometimes forcing him to escape from his depression. "[L]oosely based on the life of [the author's] grandmother" in Cripple Creek and on her great-grandfather, a hard-rock miner who lost his leg, the episodic story vividly describes the way family life changes when terrible events occur and how families can also recover given time, patience and love. Shelley's black-and-white cartoonish sketches don't add much to the strong text but neither do they diminish this warm family story with characters a reader might like to know. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-11)