Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (peril, attempted hold-up)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
13yo Sally was raised in an orphanage in the late 1800s, and things have never worked out for her. So, when she loses her latest job at a hotel in Oregon, she decides to leave on her own and head west. She's heard the sea is something to see. She has some tips from her job at the hotel, and buys a pair a dungarees so she can rip off the torn hem of her dress. When a delivery wagon comes by, and a woman named Major offers Sally a ride, she takes it, despite her promise to herself to trust nobody. But when Major gets an unusual shipment - a spoiled 7yo boy named Lafayette, Sally wonders if walking would have been a better plan.
I was so excited to see another book by Karen Cushman! Sally is funny and smart and independent. Lafayette was perfectly irritating, and Major the kindest. Cushman's character development was spot on. Because they are traveling, there are a lot of side characters, but even they are fleshed out a bit - the Saloon girl who brings Sally and Lafayette sandwiches to the drunk robber on the road - tiny pieces of the stock characters of the west. Marvelous. It was hard to pinpoint the time period - Sally mentions once having to wait for something until 1899, so we know it takes place before then. I adored When Sally O'Malley Discovered the Sea and am so happy to add it to my Karen Cushman collection. Sally and her companions are white.
Lisa Librarian
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