I bought this book because I have heard of the Johnstown flood, but didn't know anything about it except that it happened. I liked that Jennie is a strong character and works hard, but the author also shows that she has some doubts in the decisions she has to make. ( )

This book is about a girl named Jennie who is trying to find her way in the world. She visits her aunts that live a few miles away from where her, her mother and younger brother own a boardinghouse. When she arrives to her aunts' house, she finds one of her aunts to be ill. Her aunt that is ill has to stay away from work to avoid getting worse. The aunts job is a morse code person. Jennie was taught morse code when she was younger and volunteered to take her aunts place. It was easy at first but then the flood happened. There were so many reporters who wanted her to send their stories through to their news stations. Jennie gets paid for her work and her aunt lets her stay to work there.
I liked this book because when the town was in the flood and Jennie was going through a lot of hardships, she didn't back away from her responsibilities. Even when she was caught in the flood she managed to stay srong. She saved a baby girl and escaped a burning pile of rubble that many were to trapped in that the were burned alive. Jennie didn't know what happend to her mother and brother, so she stayed awake for days walking around to search for her family. Jane Miner, I think, turned a tragedy into a story of a very adventurous young woman. ( )