Homestead Series by Stephen Bly

The Bowers are not your typical, late-nineteenth-century homesteading family. They did not move west to farm Nebraska; they moved east. Matthew Bowers won't be working the land; his wife Lissa will--despite her diminutive size. And while Papa is dreaming of new ideas and Mama is farming, it will be 17-year-old Jolie who runs the household and mothers her three younger siblings. It's unusual, but the Bowers are determined to make this plan--unlike all of Matthew's others--work... moreThe Bowers are not your typical, late-nineteenth-century homesteading family. They did not move west to farm Nebraska; they moved east. Matthew Bowers won't be working the land; his wife Lissa will--despite her diminutive size. And while Papa is dreaming of new ideas and Mama is farming, it will be 17-year-old Jolie who runs the household and mothers her three younger siblings. It's unusual, but the Bowers are determined to make this plan--unlike all of Matthew's others--work. That is, if Mama can get the team of horses to settle down and plow. If they can conquer the challenges of floods, grasshoppers and cash flow that keep them on the edge of survival. And if Jolie can keep every young man in the state from fighting over her. The Bowers are a family of faith in a land where everyone is a stranger and pilgrim... at least for a few days. People of warmth, love and hospitality who don't hesitate to defy convention. A family no one ever forgets or wants to lose as a friend. A family readers will want to get to know for themselves. less

Hot days of a western Nebraska summer have caused the water to recede and the corn to grow on the Bowers homestead. Jolie Bowers throws herself into the role of a teacher at a one-room schoolhouse, spending every spare moment with Tanner Wells as theylook forward to their wedding.A torrential September rain brings the sod roof down on top ofthe Bowers one night, the train tracks are washed out, and there is trouble with the railroad over shipping rates... moreHot days of a western Nebraska summer have caused the water to recede and the corn to grow on the Bowers homestead. Jolie Bowers throws herself into the role of a teacher at a one-room schoolhouse, spending every spare moment with Tanner Wells as theylook forward to their wedding.A torrential September rain brings the sod roof down on top ofthe Bowers one night, the train tracks are washed out, and there is trouble with the railroad over shipping rates. Both sides in theconflict round up gunmen to enforce their position. Mr. Bowers gets arrested in Lincoln for starting a riot. A handsome widower, StrathYarrow, suddenly appears, and Jolie hardly has time to sort out her true feelings. less

When a boy is killed by a breakaway rail car, Jolie Bowers's compulsion to control is stretched to the limit. The homesteaders of western Nebraska threaten to retaliate against the railroad. And this is only the beginning. In the midst of teaching school, preparing for her wedding, and dealing with the violent reaction to the railroad accident, Jolie finds herself facing trouble from all sides. Mr. Avery shows up with legal papers demanding a return of the family homestead... moreWhen a boy is killed by a breakaway rail car, Jolie Bowers's compulsion to control is stretched to the limit. The homesteaders of western Nebraska threaten to retaliate against the railroad. And this is only the beginning. In the midst of teaching school, preparing for her wedding, and dealing with the violent reaction to the railroad accident, Jolie finds herself facing trouble from all sides. Mr. Avery shows up with legal papers demanding a return of the family homestead. Jolie's father, Matthew Bowers, is trying to pull together enough money to build the family the first house they've ever owned. Her mother, Lissa Bowers, is injured in a dynamite blast, and her sixteen-year-old brother decides to get married. Her little sister Essie's sweetheart, Leppy Verdue, is sentenced to be hanged, and fourteen-year-old Gibson is sidelined with the chicken pox in the hunt for an escaped criminal. Some would be depressed and crushed, but for Jolie it is a test of endurance and faith. And for the first time in her life, she doesn't know how things will end. less