From Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor comes a witty tale of the Wild West filled with comical cliffhangers and featuring a cast of plucky orphans and dastardly villains. Emily Wiggins is poor and timid, without a drop of self-confidence. When she is unexpectedly orphaned, she is left all alone except for her turtle, Rufus. What in blinkin' bloomers should Emily do? Emily's neighbors, Mrs. Ready, Mrs. Aim, and Mrs. Fire, have the answer: Emily must travel by stagecoach to the home of her honorable aunt Hilda. What a rootin' tootin' grand idea! But Miss Catchum of the Catchum Child-Catching Services will get a big bonus for delivering Emily to her next of kin, the vicious Uncle Victor. How the ding dong dickens will Emily escape Miss Catchum? It will take all the gumption and cunning of fellow orphan and traveler Jackson to help Emily find her confidence, her conniving spirit, and the true reason Uncle Victor wants to claim her. But how in flippin' flapjacks will Emily outsmart Uncle Victor?
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor grew up in Anderson, Indiana, and Joliet, Illinois. She loved to make up stories and write little books when she was growing up, and sold her first story when she was 16 for $4.67.
Naylor worked as a teacher and an editor before she began to write full-time in 1960. She sold her first book for children in 1965. Her book Shiloh won the Newbery Medal in 1992, and later became part of a quartet of novels.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with her husband, Rex who is a speech pathologist. They have two grown sons and four grandchildren.
View titles by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Painted on the door of the carriage was a sign that read Catchum Child-Catching ServicesTrumpet Junction Branch Orphans, Strays, and Roustabouts Rounded Up Quickly Emily jumped behind a mail cart so fast that she bumped into a boy in a faded brown jacket. "Hey!" he said. "Watch where you're going!" And then, "You're an orphan too, aren't you?" "How did you know?" she asked him. He shrugged. "Saw you trying to hide from the Child Catchers, just like I used to do."
From Newbery Award winner Phyllis Reynolds Naylor comes a witty tale of the Wild West filled with comical cliffhangers and featuring a cast of plucky orphans and dastardly villains. Emily Wiggins is poor and timid, without a drop of self-confidence. When she is unexpectedly orphaned, she is left all alone except for her turtle, Rufus. What in blinkin' bloomers should Emily do? Emily's neighbors, Mrs. Ready, Mrs. Aim, and Mrs. Fire, have the answer: Emily must travel by stagecoach to the home of her honorable aunt Hilda. What a rootin' tootin' grand idea! But Miss Catchum of the Catchum Child-Catching Services will get a big bonus for delivering Emily to her next of kin, the vicious Uncle Victor. How the ding dong dickens will Emily escape Miss Catchum? It will take all the gumption and cunning of fellow orphan and traveler Jackson to help Emily find her confidence, her conniving spirit, and the true reason Uncle Victor wants to claim her. But how in flippin' flapjacks will Emily outsmart Uncle Victor?
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor grew up in Anderson, Indiana, and Joliet, Illinois. She loved to make up stories and write little books when she was growing up, and sold her first story when she was 16 for $4.67.
Naylor worked as a teacher and an editor before she began to write full-time in 1960. She sold her first book for children in 1965. Her book Shiloh won the Newbery Medal in 1992, and later became part of a quartet of novels.
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with her husband, Rex who is a speech pathologist. They have two grown sons and four grandchildren.
View titles by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Excerpt
Painted on the door of the carriage was a sign that read Catchum Child-Catching ServicesTrumpet Junction Branch Orphans, Strays, and Roustabouts Rounded Up Quickly Emily jumped behind a mail cart so fast that she bumped into a boy in a faded brown jacket. "Hey!" he said. "Watch where you're going!" And then, "You're an orphan too, aren't you?" "How did you know?" she asked him. He shrugged. "Saw you trying to hide from the Child Catchers, just like I used to do."
