by Nancy Oswald ’72

Ruby Mae Oliver and her donkey, Maude, are best friends. When Ruby and her Pa are stranded in Cripple Creek, Maude and Ruby’s carefree life changes. Pa has decided Ruby must go to school and, worse yet, she needs a “proper upbringing.” The book, set against the historic backdrop of the destructive Cripple Creek fires of 1896, makes for a compelling historical novel for younger readers. Oswald also is the author of two previous historical novels, “Nothing Here but Stones” and “Hard Face Moon.”

ISBN-13: 978-0865411098. Published by Filter Press, 2011.