Joan Lowery Nixon

As the saga of the Kelly children continues, Mike Kelly is adopted by a German immigrant farm family living in Missouri. Although they are kind to him, they are mainly interested in having cheap labor. Eleven-year-old Michael Patrick Kelly from New York City is sent to a foster home, a Missouri...

Christina Lattimore’s family is wealthy and powerful. She attends the best private high school. Yet Christina feels trapped by her family’s expectations. Frustrated and angry at her situation, she pays little attention when a strange car follows her home one night. Its headlights are the...

It's the autumn of 1863, and as the Civil War rages, a stranger named Violet seeks refuge with the Kelly family. Peg Kelly, 11, is thrilled - Violet treats her like an adult, not a child. Violet is fleeing Confederate raiders and has information that may save the Union. But she can't deliver her...

Thirteen-year-old Stacy is sunbathing in the backyard when she hears a strange noise from inside the house. Turning to look, she sees a man with a gun burst through the door; then everything goes black. She wakes up in a hospital bed to learn that she has spent the last four years in a catatonic...

Shy Megan Kelly cannot forget the day a gypsy read her palm announcing to all that she would bring trouble to those around her. Afterward, trouble does follow her, until she takes the necessary steps to free herself from the burdens of fear, loneliness, and superstition...

The Civil War has officially ended, and Frances Mary Kelly's true love, Johnny, is back from the war. But to Frances' dismay, Johnny is hesitant to marry her. Attempting to ease her aching heart, Frances accepts an offer to go to New York City and escort a group of orphans out West to new homes...

It's 1861, and although Mike Kelly is far younger than the legal age of 16, he and his best friend Todd secretly join up with the Second Kansas Infantry and become army drummer boys. Mike's dreams of glory end when he's wounded at the bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek and must begin a dangerous...

Danny and his younger sister, Peg, are placed in St. Joseph, Missouri, with kind Alfrid and Olga Swenson. Danny is thrilled to have a "real" father again, but when Olga suddenly dies, he is devastated - until he thinks of an ingenious plan to find Alfrid a new wife...