To Stay Alive: Mary Ann Graves and the Tragic Journey of the Donner Party

Nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Graves narrates this verse novel about the 1846 westward wagon journey taken with her parents and eight siblings. The family joins a party that includes the Donners, reaches the Sierra Nevada too late, and becomes trapped when early snow arrives. As food dwindles, Mary Ann, her father, and older sister attempt the pass to summon help, but are lost in a storm.