There were so many things wrong about this book that I don't really know where to start. I guess I'll start with the fact that it seemed odd that the author chose to make her main character, Laurel, fifteen years old when the book was written at an upper elementary school reading level and is suggested for grades four and up. Covering the same topic is the fact that there is a romance in the story. It didn't really seem like a storyline that would interest the age level this book is targeted to. Not only that, but the romance happened much to quickly and had absolutley no feel to it. In fact, I didn't care much about anything in this book. The characters were all poorly developed and one-dimensional. Laurel had a bit more development than the others, but that was probably only because she was the main character. When I read a book, I usually become immersed in the story and care about what happens to the characters. Not so in this book. In fact, the only thing I cared about was that the book end quickly. Which it did at around 85 pages. It's a shame this novel was so poorly written, since it was based around an intresting historical event - the Missouri earthquakes in 1811 and 1812 - that few books have been written about.