Recent Reads - Ever Faithful

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Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett - Elsie Brookes has grown up as a ranger's daughter and loves Yellowstone, but she's been saving her earnings from working in the park so she can go to college. Her dream is to become a teacher, but saving enough money for tuition has been taking a long time. She accepts a second job at the park - teaching classes for the young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps - in order to have enough money by the end of the season.

Nate Webber has had a tough life in Brooklyn, and finds himself in an even tougher spot when he tries to protect his kid brother from trouble. Nate agrees to sign up for the CCC and hopes he'll be able to make it through without anyone finding out that he can't read. His group is assigned to work at Yellowstone, and it isn't long before his natural leadership abilities and his maturity earn the notice of the rangers. Nate is even given some command responsibilities, but he's worried that he'll fail at this job too, as soon as those in charge realize he can't read the manual and isn't filling out the reports by himself.

Elsie isn't sure why Nate refuses to come to the classes she's teaching, because she knows he's very intelligent but doesn't have a high school diploma. They do strike up a friendship and eventually Elsie finds out that Nate has been too embarrassed to admit he can't read, and that he thinks of himself as a failure because of it. She insists on trying to help him, and their private tutoring sessions soon blossom into a romance.

Providing background drama in the meantime is a budding relationship between Elsie's friend Mary and one of the CCC men, and the relationship struggles of another friend, Rose. Elsie's cousin Graham has come to the park for summer work, which forces Elsie to deal with her scars - physical and emotional -of the house fire Graham started accidentally when they were children. But the season at Yellowstone is marred by several accidental fires and a dangerous wildfire that threatens their lives and the hotel. Are the fires just coincidence or were any of them set deliberately? And if so, who is the firebug and what is the person's motive?

By the same author: Where the Fire Falls

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