Independent Publisher
Book Awards
2001 Finalist
Young Adult
Multi-Cultural Fiction

Vicki Hessel Werkley

Captured by a warparty and swept into Comanche tribal life, can homesteader Carrie McEdan make a place for herself in this alien culture?

This award-winning offering from Haven Books is historical fiction offering the reader a fresh perspective on an important chapter of the American West.

Based upon exhaustive research and collaboration with the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee, author Vicki Hessel Werkley's debut novel thunders across the 1874 plains of Texas and Oklahoma. While the Red River War rages, the personal drama of Carrie McEdan unfolds as she's abducted from the harsh wind-torn life she's known in a soddy, and is swept into Comanche tribal life.

Though "kidnap fiction" of the old West has existed for decades, this book goes well beyond the stereotypical view of Native American tribal life. "In most Anglo-fiction, Native women were nearly always portrayed as powerless and subservient to their men," states Werkley. "But in fact, women had control of the heart of the community and had an enormous say in how tribal affairs were organized and run."

A restless girl of sixteen -- irritated by the drudgery of women's work and the unjust limitations of her white society -- Carrie longs for adventure and romance until uninvited guests catch her at home alone. Not only does she brave the terror of kidnap, but the danger and mystery of being unable to communicate with her captors or to understand the motives behind their often-unexpected behavior. Through Carrie McEdan we experience the strength and adaptability of the human character as it seeks survival and acceptance, love and spiritual connection.

Werkley, a former educator with the Mendocino Unified Schools, began her writing career in second grade, and by her sophomore year was the recipient of First Place Award for Senior Short Story from the National Scholastic Writing Awards. She's been widely published in periodicals including Datebook, Teenset, and Starlog, has written television scripts, and has edited a newsletter for a non-profit organization since 1991. She is the professional editor of the biography The Man Behind the Miracle (November, 1999), and of five novels: Page Street (July, 1993), What the Heart knows, Closer Than You Think, Child Secrets, and Captain Mary, Buccaneer (2000).