Stay Alive: The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds, the Donner Party Expedition, 1846 Philbrick Rodman

The Newbery Honor-winning author of Wildfire and Freak the Mighty brings to life the excitement, danger, and horrors of the Donner Party's journey west. And then, when that is gone, what shall we eat?Shall we eat the snow? "Soon we will eat the frozen cattle....

Shall we eat the bark on the frozen trees?What shall we eat?"Spring, 1846: Douglas Allen Deeds dreams of starting a new life out West. Shall we eat the ice? When the opportunity to join the Donner Party Expedition arises, he leaves the life he's known behind to set out on the nearly 2,000-mile trek from Independence, Missouri to sunny California.But progress is slow.

Brutal heat, poisoned water, and rough terrain slows the expedition down. Soon they have a choice: continue on the known but grueling trail, or take a shortcut that would