The Year We Were Famous: Helga and Clara Estby's Walk across a Changing America
- 290 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Based on the true story of a mother-daughter walk across Victorian America in a race against time to save the family farm.
Carole Estby Dagg Book order
After careers as a children's librarian, certified public accountant, and assistant library director, the author retired early to pursue her lifelong passion for writing. Her debut novel was inspired by the true story of her great-aunt and her mother's remarkable cross-country trek in 1896. The second book emerged from curiosity about the early days of a town in Alaska, sparked by her son's purchase of a historic house. This author crafts narratives deeply rooted in factual events and family legacies, transforming them into compelling stories.
- 2021
- 2019
Sweet Home Alaska
- 304 pages
- 11 hours of reading
"If Laura Ingalls Wilder had lived in Alaska, she might have written this novel . . ."--Kirkus Reviews It's 1934, and times are tough for Trip's family after the mill in their small Wisconsin town closes, leaving her father unemployed. Determined to provide for his family, he moves them all to Alaska to become pioneers as part of President Roosevelt's Palmer Colony project. Trip and her family are settling in, except her mom, who balks at the lack of civilization. But Trip feels like she's following in Laura Ingalls Wilder's footsteps, and she hatches a plan to raise enough money for a piano to convince her musical mother that Alaska is a wonderful and cultured home. Her sights set on the cash prize at the upcoming Palmer Colony Fair, but can Trip grow the largest pumpkin possible--using all the love, energy, and Farmer Boy expertise she can muster?