The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan

     This is a book that anyone who likes historical fiction and action will like.  It takes place in the West right after the Civil War.  Aiden and his sister Maddy are the only two left from their family still alive, but they are resorting to eating mud to stay alive.  Then a man comes along and invites them to join him on a wagon train heading for Seattle area, and they go. 
     The adventures they encounter are hair raising and difficult to read about a lot of the time.  Like all historical fiction the reader learns a great deal about a specific time in history, and what it was really like to live then.
      I really liked this book.  It is hard to take sometimes, but it sure makes me grateful for living when I do.