Non-fiction Chapter Book Juvenile Fiction
Date Published: 10-30-2025
Publisher: Solander Press
While her sister Laura chronicles their life on the frontier, Carrie Ingalls forges her own path. This is the story of the “forgotten” sister, a frail child who grows into a resilient woman of the American West. From the hardships of pioneer life, Carrie emerges as an independent journalist, newspaper editor, and landowner, quietly shaping the futures of fellow homesteaders and proving that strength comes in many forms.
About the Author
Award-winning author Clarissa Willis writes children’s books. She has authored four picture books and one chapter book. Bloomers on Pike’s Peak, the story of Julia Archibald Holmes, received a Will Rogers Medallion Award and was a finalist for the Women Writing the West 2025 WILLA Literary Award in Children’s Picture Books. Her book Fast as the Wind: The Story of Johnny Fry Pony Express Rider won a Will Rogers Medallion in 2023. The Three Little Pigs and the Not So Big Bad Wolf, released in early 2025. It tells a familiar story with a new twist. She believes childhood is a journey and strives to make it joyful through her books and public speaking.
Clarissa loves traveling and has a special connection to the American West. She finds inspiration in the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona, and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. In fact, her next book, Not from Around Here, is set in Sedona and chronicles an unusual friendship between a young cowboy and his friend from far away.
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Excerpts
Chapter Six A Single Bag of Wheat
On October 15, 1880, a fierce blizzard struck the Dakota Territory. It soon became clear that the
Ingalls family could not survive the coming winter in a one-room shanty.
First, Charles took his haystacks to town in the wagon. Then he returned to the shanty, and he
and Caroline packed the wagon with their few pieces of furniture, bedding, and clothes. They
returned to town and moved back into the rooms above the small store Charles had built. The
good news was that Laura and Carrie could go to school.
A lot had changed over the summer while they lived in the shanty. The school had been
completed and opened on November 1, 1880. Laura and Carrie were two of the first fifteen
students to attend De Smet School. When another blizzard hit during a school day, Laura and
Carrie struggled to find their way back to where they lived.
Settlers depended on the train for their supplies. Not only did they get food delivered daily by
train, but they also received mail and, most importantly, coal for fuel. Charles and the other men
from town often shoveled snow from the tracks so the train could reach the station.
As the blizzards continued into January 1881, the railroad made a decision that significantly
affected Carrie and her family. They would not deliver more supplies until spring and would
cease operations for the winter.
The school was shut down because there wasn’t enough coal to keep the children warm, and
soon food became scarce in the town. Food prices rose sharply, with flour costing $50 a pound,
and the last few pounds of sugar selling for $1 a pound. Without coal, the Ingalls burned hay
twisted into bundles. As their kerosene ran low, they burned the oil lamps less and less at night.
But a good deed by Charles may have saved the family.
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