The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt 309 pages

National Book award winner has crafted another glimpse of a hardscrabble life. Amos, the son of a trapper and dowser has a life full of adversity and adventure. His mother dies in childbirth and he is raised by another pioneer family until his father reclaims him. Together with a new native American step-mother, they join a group heading west. Amos is but 13 when he is forced to grow up and become a leader. Although his father scorns his talent to find water, Amos treasures this talent he has inherited. Characters are rich and fully developed. Readers get a moving sense of pioneer life.