Cannon, A.E. Charlotte's Rose.

CANNON, A.E. Charlotte's Rose. Random House, Dell Yearling. 246p. map. c2002. 0-440-41840-2. $5.50. J*

Twelve-year-old Charlotte's mother has died in childbirth along with her baby brother David. She and her father, as converts to the Mormon church from Wales, seek Zion in a handcart company, a group too poor for a wagon and livestock. They reduce their possessions to 17 pounds, all to be pushed and pulled in a handcart over the prairies and through the mountains to Utah. The high-spirited Charlotte, anxious for others in the company to recognize her maturity, impulsively agrees to carry a newborn baby on her back across the plains when the infant's mother dies and the father is overcome with grief. Charlotte soon regrets her unthinking offer because taking care of a baby amidst the many other hardships of the journey is difficult, but she eventually comes to treasure the infant she names Rose. When the baby's father finally comes to reclaim the child at the end of the journey, Charlotte must face a new challenge: learning to let go.

Based on a true historical incident, the novel colorfully depicts the historical background of the Mormon handcart companies' trek to escape religious persecution and build a new city in the American desert. Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT