For those who believe that context is everything, I should explain why this review may be rather more personal than some. I received the book to be reviewed just as I set out on a trip to see my daughter off on her mission to Ecuador. I read the book on Sunday, July 23rd, after hearing a Pioneer Day Sacrament meeting, and riding through Nevada and southern Utah, and now I'm writing this on my laptop in the car on July 24th after bidding my daughter farewell. I'm just passing Fillmore now (Hey, I had ancestors who lived in Fillmore.) So I'm filled with missionary and pioneer feelings. Perhaps I should also say that I have ancestors who came across the ocean to Zion. (And, so , of course, I was asking myself why I hadn't had the presence of mind to research their stories and submit them to this book. Ah, well, perhaps volume II.)

Now, for the review -- I liked it.

There are many reasons to write books about young pioneers (Primary sharing time, Priesthood/Young Women programs, family home evenings, Pioneer Day sacrament meeting talks are a few which spring immediately to mind.) So the authors/editors/compilers have done something good here. And in doing so, they have filled a heretofore empty niche of first person narrative from young pioneers sailing to Zion. It's a sizable niche. During the fifty years covered by this volume, more than forty thousand young (under the age of twenty-one) converts to the church crossed the oceans to gather in Utah. Their firsthand accounts make great reading.

Madsen and Woods have done their homework. Their research was thorough and looks impeccable. Everything is footnoted and documented, with sources and notes galore. That's important in an historical work, even (or perhaps especially) in one concentrating on personal, feel-good narrative. They have sometimes smoothed out the spelling and substituted a word or two to give accurate meaning, but the authors always identify when and where. The illustrations and photographs receive the same careful documentation.

The book is attractive. It has a photo of three appealing boys on the cover, and the "old scrapbook" quality suits the material. It is illustrated with reproductions of photos, drawings, handbills and other evocative pictorial representations of the era. (As might be expected, photos are not available of every child whose story is featured. And all the just-right photos don't have stories. So there's some mix-and-match, but it's all labeled accurately so there's no confusion, and it certainly adds to the overall appeal of the book.)

The stories are clustered by theme: "Leaving the Homeland," "A Small Village at Sea," "Dangers and Deliverance," "Two Unique Voyages, "A New Home," and finally, "The Meaning of the Gathering." Each section is introduced with the historic background, and patterns in the narratives are noted and explored. Each child's story is prefaced with information about the context and form in which it was written, and each story is followed with brief notes about what happened to the writer -- place of eventual settlement, marriage, children, occupation, church involvement, death. Thus, the authors have endeavored to give as complete a picture as possible.

The stories do receive individualized treatment. For example, one story is drawn from the writings of two sisters who crossed the plains together. The narrative follows the time line of the trek, alternating between sisters, providing both reinforcement and contrast.

Some of the stories are familiar -- like that of B. H. Roberts. Most, however, will be new to many readers, giving them that everyman, or in this case, every-pioneer feeling.

What might have been better? Hard to say. Of course, we'd love it if more stories were contemporary to the voyages themselves, instead of remembered years later. We'd like daily journals. And, as long as we're wishing, we'd like photos of each pioneer child, preferably on shipboard. Alas, as the authors explained, such materials are scarce. So, wishes aside, this is a fine book. Buy it and put it next to Madsen's other two volumes of stories from young pioneers (I walked to Zion and Growing Up in Zion). I think you'll enjoy reading the stories, as I did. I think you'll want to share them with family members, as I did. And I'll bet you'll find places to use them in everything from church assignments to casual conversations, as I have.