The middle volume of Carsons Gold Seer trilogy. Young, white Leah Westfalls mystical ability to sense when gold is near is both a beneficial and a dangerous trait during this era of the forty-niners. She is traveling through California with a band of friends who are looking to prospect and settle. Knowing her uncle Hiramher only living relative, who knows of her poweris on her trail, Leah is forced to reveal her secret to her friends so that they know the risk of accompanying her. Utilizing Leahs gold sense, this small group begins to stake their claims along the American River when uncle Hiram's men find her. The construct of this historical narrative fails by creating a female protagonist with absurd mystical powers that make her a cash cow (literally). The relationships are muddled, as she has a half-white, half-Cherokee sweetheart, Jefferson Kingfisher, a fact that is hard to reconcile with their prospecting on Indian land. Aside from Jefferson, the Native Americans mostly act as the stereotypical backdrop of decimated Indians. By keeping them largely naked and hidden, Carson diminishes the historical Native American resistance against Western expansion in the Sacramento area, and she adds insult to injury by ultimately making them collaborators in Leahs theft of their land. An authors note describes Carsons research but cannot account for this portrayal. Another indulgence in a Western narrative that undermines both history and its female protagonist instead of enlightening. (Fantasy. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In the second volume of Carson's fantasy historical fiction Gold Seer's trilogy, Leah Westfall has teamed up with Jefferson, Becky, Tom, and the others as they trek across the country to finally settle in California. Together they form a town Glory, California and begin to mine the area for gold. But Leah is never free of the worry that her uncle Hiram will track her down and force her to use her witchy powers to make him wealthy. Carson paints a sober picture of America's gold rush, one in which Native American, Chinese, and black people are abused and enslaved to make white settlers wealthy. There are subtle and not so subtle references to racial and gender prejudices, women's rights (or lack thereof), and unspeakable violence. This is also a celebration of great courage, the ability of people to come together as family, and the healing power of love. The exciting, sweet, and satisfying ending is probably only temporary, however, as the final book in the trilogy is forthcoming.--Bradburn, Frances Copyright 2016 Booklist

In this second book in the projected trilogy beginning with Walk on Earth a Stranger (rev. 9/15), sixteen-year-old narrator Leah ("Lee") Westfall--gifted with the "witchy" talent for finding gold--and company stake their claim in California. But trouble's not far behind: Lee's murderous uncle Hiram has tracked her down and orders his henchmen to set the camp ablaze. To protect the settlement from further attacks, Lee--accompanied by best friend/love interest Jefferson and by Tom, one of the three bachelor "college men"--surrenders to Hiram, who is desperate to exploit her gold-finding abilities. Held captive at "Hiram's Gulch," but with innumerable freedoms and luxuries compared to the Chinese and Native American people enslaved by her uncle, Lee joins an uprising against him--and learns disturbing information about her own family. Carson's alternate Gold Rush-era setting is fierce and brutal: the uprising is very bloody, and many of the good guys perish. The socio-politics, too, are complicated. Jackson's mother was Cherokee (his father was a violently abusive white settler), and as glad as he is to be back with Lee in their soon-to-be-chartered town, he bristles at the idea of owning property: "It's not my land, Lee. And it wouldn't be right to justtake it." An informative author's note provides additional historical context. elissa gershowitz (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.