About Skitterbrain
From award-winning author Irene Bennett Brown comes a heartwarming story of a young pioneer girl who wanted only one thing out of life and would not give up until she found it.
When Larnie Moran finds her family’s milk cow gone, she knows she’s the one at fault. The Morans have to have that cow, for Larnie’s sickly mother is about to have a child, and the infant will need milk.
Larnie can not—will not—ask her Papa to get Bessie back for her and risk being called a “skitterbrain” once again. Instead, she follows a large cattle herd across the empty prairie in search of the runaway cow—just in time to see it join a passing trail herd and lose itself among the thousands of steers.
Along the trail to Wichita, she runs into Buzzard, a tough boy younger than she but a lot stronger, who scornfully orders her to go home. Nearly made prisoner by a mad, lonely woman seeking her lost family, befriended by a sodbuster family and discovering that she will have to search through twenty thousand heads of beef steers for her lone cow, her journey is nothing but easy.
Follow this high-spirited young frontier heroine in a wild and wooly adventure rich in history and female courage.
Praise
“Skitterbrain is a book rich in historical detail with an emphasis on female courage. It is an excellent book for mid to late grade school readers and would be an enjoyable book for families to read together.”
—Women’s Work
“In TRUE GRIT fashion, this fast moving exciting tale with a spunky heroine, should appeal to everyone.”
—State Library of Ohio
“The author does a beautiful job of combining suspense with history while including good lessons on human nature. One never loses sight of the fact that Larnie is spurred on not only because of fear but because of a great love and concern for her mother and birth of the baby.”
—Bookstore Journal, Colorado
“Larnie and her parents have recently homesteaded in the Midwest and her father frequently calls her ‘skitterbrained’ because of her actions. She realizes now she is to blame when the milk cow disappears and suddenly makes up her mind that she, and she alone, will see that the cow is found.”
—Granite School District, Salt Lake City, Utah
“A heartwarming story of courage and determination. Excellent.”
—Book Gleanings
“Frontier life, we can assume, was no picnic for girls less venturesome than a Laura Ingalls or a Caddie Woodlawn-so there is something to be said for eleven-year-old “Larnie” Moran’s tenacious pursuit of the family cow, vital to the baby any day, across vacant 1875 Kansas to the cattle-pens of roistering Wichita.”
—KIRKUS
“Larnie discovers new strength about herself and meets with many characters from the era. The story mixes plenty of adventure and good characterization and a portrayal of frontier life.” Recommended. – Mary Covington
—Tucson Public Schools
“Larnie searches across the prairie determined to find the cow, Bessie and prove that she’s not a Skitterbrain. Her experiences help her to face up to her mistakes and learn from them. Rated excellent by a District reviewer.”
—A Unified S.D.
“This is a sad but beautiful story of a young pioneer girl. Larnie’s habitual absent-mindness leads her to lose the cow. Her search for the family’s cow takes Larnie on a long journey full of wild and wooly adventures. Also gives a good look at farm and western life during the 1800’s.”
—Clark County, South Dakota School District
“This is a book that would provide entertaining reading for anyone over twelve. Although fictional in nature, the story gives a good insight into the development of the West.”
—The Bookstore Journal
“Larnie is a high-spirited frontier heroine and Brown details life in 1870 Kansas with a flavor.”
—-Booklist
“This is an exciting book whose suspense will hold the reader on the trail showing the importance of kindness, responsibility and courage. “
—Provident Book Finder