Books with author Julie Burtinshaw

Jenny Estes shares her father’s dream of freedom. But for Jenny — born into slavery in Missouri in the 1840s — freedom seems an impossible dream. She toils alongside her mother in the steaming kitchen of the Leopold plantation, trying her best to be humble and obedient so that Mrs. Leopold won’t sell her to a slave-trader. But when she's not drying dishes or mixing biscuits, Jenny finds time to practice her reading, a skill that ultimately helps the family plan their migration and realize their dream. The Estes face a formidable journey: a grueling passage from Missouri to Saltspring Island, Canada. Along the way, Jenny’s family confronts scarlet fever, racial persecution, the arduous Oregon Trail, warring native Haidas, and finally, the challenges of homesteading. Jenny’s spirit and fortitude in the face of many adversities make her a heroine all young readers can look up to. Based on a true story, this tale is a gripping account of one young girl's coming-of-age in troubling and unsettling times.

How do you say good-bye to your baby after you’ve just said hello to first love?Francis is a shy 15-year-old when he meets edgy, confident 16-year-old Sawyer at a party. Sparks fly… and Sawyer gets pregnant. They hardly know each other, but now must deal with both their relationship and the reality of a baby.Francis has a lot of growing up to do, and now it seems like he is being forced to do it all at once. When his life collides with Sawyer’s, Francis is forced to confront his own stereotypes about loss, sexuality, and family.Sawyer decides to give the baby up for adoption, but that’s just the start. Over the months they wait for the baby to be born, Francis and Sawyer try to deal with their choices. Will Francis follow Sawyer’s brave example? Or will he turn his back and pretend his life has not changed? Where will they be when it’s time to say good-bye to baby London?

Francis Sloan is a shy fifteen-year-old boy. When he meets edgy sixteen-year-old Sawyer, sparks fly...and Sawyer becomes pregnant. Their relationship is still so fresh and new, they decide they will put the baby up for adoption. As the story unfolds over the nine months they wait for their baby, London, to be born, Francis and Sawyer grapple with the responsibility of becoming parents and the accelerated path to adulthood they now find themselves on. With the absence of their own fathers in their lives and the evergreen challenges of first love, will they even make it together to the point where they have to say goodbye to London?

When 14-year-old James boards the steamship Valencia in San Francisco's harbor in 1906, he knows his nightmares are omens of an ill-fated passage. Apprehensively, he explores the ship with Alex, a fellow traveler who introduces him to oblivious passengers and crew. When a violent storm and thick fog reduce the navigators to dead reckoning, James braces himself for the worst. The vessel runs aground in the Juan de Fuca Strait, 50 yards from shore, in seas too rocky for rescue. While victims cling to the masts in the gale, the boys board the last lifeboat ... Only 20 people survive and over 200 passengers and crew are killed-a sea disaster as horrible as the sinking of the Titanic-as the Valencia sinks to its watery grave off what is now the West Coast Trail.