The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party

In powerful, vivid verse, the master behind The Watch That Ends the Night recounts one of history's most harrowing--and chilling--tales of survival.

In 1846, a group of emigrants bound for California face a choice: continue on their planned route or take a shortcut into the wilderness. Eighty-nine of them opt for the untested trail, a decision that plunges them into danger and desperation and, finally, the unthinkable. From extraordinary poet and novelist Allan Wolf comes a riveting retelling of the ill-fated journey of the Donner party across the Sierra Nevadas during the winter of 1846-1847. Brilliantly narrated by multiple voices, including world-weary, taunting, and all-knowing Hunger itself, this novel-in-verse examines a notorious chapter in history from various perspectives, among them caravan leaders George Donner and James Reed, Donner's scholarly wife, two Miwok Indian guides, the Reed children, a sixteen-year-old orphan, and even a pair of oxen. Comprehensive back matter includes an author's note, select character biographies, statistics, a time line of events, and more. Unprecedented in its detail and sweep, this haunting epic raises stirring questions about moral ambiguity, hope and resilience, and hunger of all kinds.

Author: Allan Wolf
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 10/18/2022
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.98lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.00w x 1.10d
ISBN13: 9781536228199
ISBN10: 1536228192
BISAC Categories:
- Young Adult Fiction | Action & Adventure | Survival Stories
- Young Adult Fiction | Historical | United States | 19th Century
- Young Adult Fiction | Novels in Verse

About the Author
Allan Wolf is an acclaimed poet and storyteller. Along with his two other historical verse novels, The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic and New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery, he is the author of The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts and the young adult novels Who Killed Christopher Goodman? and Zane's Trace. Allan Wolf lives in Asheville, North Carolina.