Gold in My Pocket

Gold in My Pocket
Jewell Tweedt
2014
ISBN: 978-1499316476
Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
Paperback
$ 7.99
80 pages

When gold was discovered in California during the late 1840s, many dreamed of the instantaneous wealth with enough profits to last a lifetime.

Living about thirty miles away from Independence, Missouri, Laura Webb's life is about to change.   Her mother died two years ago.  Her father has sold their farm and dreams of finding gold, striking it rich in California. She is reluctant about leaving her home, her mother's grave and Jimmy, her boyfriend.

Being only fifteen years old, Laura needs her father's permission for her to marry. Unfortunately, her father wants her to continue with her household duties while traveling with him on the wagon train and in establishing their new home while he searches for gold.   So instead of fulfilling Laura's dreams, he gives her a blank book to record her new life experiences as they travel to California.  Gold In My Pocket is this book.

The journey to California by wagon train where progress proved challenging.  The slow pace as the many families plodded through the prairies and the mountains, created a multitude of challenges along the trails.   Laura fortunately discovers that her own resourcefulness is essential for her own survival.   She learns that this will be essential in her new life.

Life's dreams seldom come true and even when they do, Laura discovers challenges that she never anticipated.  So what happens when you are a young female and discover yourself alone?

This short novel closely resembles the journals in the Dear America series of books published by Scholastic.  Like these novels, the intended readers are young teens or anyone who is interested in history.

Jewell Tweedt has written Faith of the Heart, Still Faithful, Faith and Hope, and When Christmas Bells are Ringing.   All of these are set in Omaha as the city was just beginning as a prairie outpost while also being Christian romance novels.

Gold in My Pocket is the perfect realistic historical novel for teenaged-girls.  With Laura being a realistic heroine meeting the daily life challenges, she proves that her own skills, abilities, and determination as well as friendships are the qualities needed to have a successful life.