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Sarah Lindley #1
High Trail to Danger
In 1879 seventeen-year-old Sarah travels from Chicago to the violent town of Leadtown, Colorado, to locate her missing father, but she finds that the mention of his name brings her strange looks and an attempt on her life
176 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1991
2 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Joan Lowery Nixon
188 books485 followersAuthor of more than one hundred books, Joan Lowery Nixon is the only writer to have won four Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Juvenile Mysteries (and been nominated several other times) from the Mystery Writers of America. Creating contemporary teenage characters who have both a personal problem and a mystery to solve, Nixon captured the attention of legions of teenage readers since the publication of her first YA novel more than twenty years ago. In addition to mystery/suspense novels, she wrote nonfiction and fiction for children and middle graders, as well as several short stories. Nixon was the first person to write novels for teens about the orphan trains of the nineteenth century. She followed those with historical novels about Ellis Island and, more recently for younger readers, Colonial Williamsburg. Joan Lowery Nixon died on June 28, 2003—a great loss for all of us.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 31, 2022
I give this 1.5 stars. It kind of fulfilled an unusual urge to read a cheesy story, but mostly I just found the main character and her sister annoying: doting older sister, strong-willed wanting-to-be-independent little sister, love triangles ... uh, love quadrangles, and predictable.
Cleanliness: there are several people in love with several people, and several shared kisses with the several people they're in love with.
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Cleanliness: there are several people in love with several people, and several shared kisses with the several people they're in love with.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
August 1, 2013
I had a hard time choosing how to rate this book - should I rate it as grown-up me, or as 12 year old me? Because 12 year old me LOVED this book. Grown up me enjoyed reading this for nostalgia purposes, and figures that it's a book that I would be happy to give to a young teen looking for a read.
The combination of western (gunfighting, train robberies, cowboys), mystery (a missing father, threats and murder) and romance (not one, but two handsome young men!) makes this book a lot of fun. It's a short book and it moves right along. l loved reading about the scrapes and adventures of the main character.
There are two things that contributed to my enjoyment of the book when I was younger, but really jump out at me now. First of all, Sarah, the main character actually grows and changes. The book is pretty short, so it's not terribly deep, but we do see Sarah growing increasingly independent and self-assured as the book progresses. At the beginning, her younger sister basically has to push her out the door, and even packs her bag for you. By the end of the book, Sarah is much more assertive and confident in her decisions. It's often heavy-handed, and the author even tells us that Sarah is increasingly enjoying making her own decisions. But it's still a nice coming of age story.
Sarah also enjoys the attentions of the young journalist and cowboy that ask to call on her, but she always puts her mission to find her father first. Both men try and protect and shelter her, and she shakes them off, making her own decisions, and going where she wants to, no matter how dangerous. The romance makes the story fun, but adds colour rather than dominating.
This is a fun, quick read, and even though the writing is average, the characters and plot make it a good time.
The combination of western (gunfighting, train robberies, cowboys), mystery (a missing father, threats and murder) and romance (not one, but two handsome young men!) makes this book a lot of fun. It's a short book and it moves right along. l loved reading about the scrapes and adventures of the main character.
There are two things that contributed to my enjoyment of the book when I was younger, but really jump out at me now. First of all, Sarah, the main character actually grows and changes. The book is pretty short, so it's not terribly deep, but we do see Sarah growing increasingly independent and self-assured as the book progresses. At the beginning, her younger sister basically has to push her out the door, and even packs her bag for you. By the end of the book, Sarah is much more assertive and confident in her decisions. It's often heavy-handed, and the author even tells us that Sarah is increasingly enjoying making her own decisions. But it's still a nice coming of age story.
Sarah also enjoys the attentions of the young journalist and cowboy that ask to call on her, but she always puts her mission to find her father first. Both men try and protect and shelter her, and she shakes them off, making her own decisions, and going where she wants to, no matter how dangerous. The romance makes the story fun, but adds colour rather than dominating.
This is a fun, quick read, and even though the writing is average, the characters and plot make it a good time.
March 7, 2018
This book gets an extra half star for nostalgia. It's not great literature but is a fun young western. Added bonus is that the heroine does grow and mature through the story, and the love interests are sweet but not too serious. The ending isn't complete, so you have to read the sequel to finish the story.
January 5, 2026
Hokey but fun, something I definitely would have been more into as a kid! I have the sequel so will read that to get a full feel since this novel ends very abruptly before promoting the sequel. Interested to see how it resolves.
January 25, 2015
Loved this book! A good friend of mine recommended this to me.
Things I didnt like and/or things you might not like about it:
They kiss before their married. This may bother some people, especially in a kid book. This doesn't bother me though.
Other than that, this is an amazing quick-read, kids book that I loved!
Things I didnt like and/or things you might not like about it:
They kiss before their married. This may bother some people, especially in a kid book. This doesn't bother me though.
Other than that, this is an amazing quick-read, kids book that I loved!
March 17, 2008
A great little children's book. I am reading it after losing Mill on the Floss in the move. : ) Quick, easy read... but it does have a sequel, of which I wasn't aware. Now I have to order it on eBay so I know the ending!
June 25, 2012
A good mystery western for children and teens.
June 10, 2011
I loved sharing her books with my daughter as she came of age. JLN, you will certainly be missed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews