In 1914 the train was the only way to travel the 75 mountainous miles between May's home and Grandma Mary's in Idaho. May's parents couldn't afford a $1.55 train ticket for May. Ingenuity and lots of luck made it possible for May to be mailed from Grangeville to Lewiston as a package weighing less than 50 pounds. She was mailed to Grandma Mary's legally for 53 cents, like a parcel post shipment of baby chicks might be sent. Tunnell used postal history information and May's family sources to develop a story based on the real Charlotte May Pierstorff's trip in the mail car. Rand's watercolor paintings reflect the time, and the author's note provides facts about travel and communication at the time this happened. (Ages 5-9)

Nowadays it's no big deal or a girl to travel seventy-five miles. But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay.

Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her won spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail.

00-01 CA Young Reader Medal Masterlist and 01 Colorado Children's Book Award (Pic. Bk Cat.)