Books with title I Am Lavina Cumming

In 1905, 10-year-old Lavina Cumming hugs her father good-bye and boards a train headed north. She is leaving her father, her five brothers, and her ranch in Arizona Territory to live with her rich aunt in California. With warmth and charm, award-winning author Susan Lowell paints a unique portrait of life in historic California. I Am Lavina Cumming blends adventure, friendship, and southwestern lore into a delightful story that will win the hearts of young listeners everywhere.

Ten-year-old Lavina Cumming has always lived with her father, mother, and five brothers on the Bosque Ranch in Arizona Territory. But when her mother dies, Lavina must go and live with her aunt in California. Set in 1905, Lavina's story of homesickness and starting a new life is told with truth and an uncommon richness of detail. A Hungry Mind Children's Books of Distinction Award winner.

Lavina Cumming has spent her entire first ten years of life on the Bosque Ranch in Arizona Territory with her mother and father, five brothers, and her black mustang pony, Chummy. When her mother dies, her father decides it would be best if Lavina went to live with her aunt, where she can be brought up as a lady. Starting off at dawn on September 16, 1905, Lavina travels by train to Santa Cruz, California. Armed with the Cumming family motto - "courage" - she arrives in a world of two-story houses, automobiles, a new school, and her cousin, "awful Aggie." Trying her best to settle in, Lavina is as shocked as everyone else by the great earthquake that nearly demolishes the nearby city of San Francisco. In the aftermath of the quake, she must make a big decision about her future. Based on the true story of Susan Lowell's grandmother, this acclaimed book, which includes a short afterword by the author, offers a compelling look at life in early twentieth-century California and a girl struggling to find her place there.