There aren't many YA historical fiction books that are set in this era. so it's always nice to see something a little different. I'll admit, it's been a long time since I read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so I honestly didn't remember who Mary Jane is. But I liked that Jahren gave her a whole backstory, eventually connecting this to that American classic.

You can tell that this book is thoroughly researched, with a lot of backmatter at the end explaining the real-life inspirations for the families in this book. It would work well as a companion piece to Huckleberry Finn and just talking about this era of the US, just before the Civil War. 

The book itself felt a little long, but other than that, if you like historical fiction, this is definitely a book to pick up!