Kate Alexander

Series · 2 books · 1989-1990

By Mary Francis Shura

Books in series

Kate's Book

1989

Readers drawn to pioneer stories will enjoy the adventures of 12-year-old Kate Alexander as she and her family travel west in 1843. When Kate's father decides to sell their Ohio farm and move to Oregon, the family has many regrets. Nonetheless, they pull up stakes and begin the long journey across the plains. The bumpy roads, slow pace and cramped living conditions prove dreary, and everyone misses the comforts of home. When the Alexanders join a wagon train in Missouri, they become acquainted with the high-spirited Thompsons from Kentucky. Kate becomes friends with Tildy, the only daughter; together, the girls explore the prairie, meet an Indian, survive a twister and save a boy's life. Most of the novel focuses on the day-to-day hardships of pioneer life and the attitudes of the people. The monotony of the journey and constant threat of adversity create tensions between the travelers, yet even the worst enemies join forces in times of need. Shura's writing is as unembellished and authentic as her characters. The fears, dreams and courage of early American settlers are thoroughly explored and convincingly expressed.

Kate's House

1990

Eleven-year-old Kate and her family are in Oregon at last and Kate is having a difficult time adjusting to her new life. The dark woods are frightening, and her best friend Tildy wants to return to her mother back East. But by Christmastime, Kate's mother is expecting a baby, Tildy has decided to stay, and Kate has finally come to accept Oregon as her home.

Author

Mary Francis Shura

Author · 16 books

Mary Francis Young was born on 23 February 1923 in Pratt, Kansas, the daughter of Jack Fant and Mary Francis (Milstead) Young. When she was very young, her family moved to the Pacific Northwest, where she raised. She studied at Maryville State College. On 24 October 1943, she married Daniel Charles Shura, who died in 1959. They had two children: Marianne Francis Shura (Spraguc) and Daniel Charles Shura. On 8 December 1961, she married Raymond C. Craig, they had a daughter Alice Barrett Craig (Stout), before their divorce. Since 1960, she wrote over 50 books of various genres: children's adventures and teen-romances as Mary Francis Shura, M. F. Craig, and Meredith Hill; gothic novels as Mary Craig; romance novels as Alexis Hill, Mary Shura Craig and Mary S. Craig; and suspense novels as M. S. Craig. Her children's novel "The Search for Grissi" received the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award in 1985, and she also was nominated to the Young Hoosier Book Award. In 1990, she was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. She lived in Hinsdale, Illinois, where her apartment burned on 13 December 1990. At 67, she died of injuries suffered in the fire on 12 January 1991 in Loyola University Medical Burn Center in Maywood.