Ages 8-12

After one adventurous, but fairly safe voyage, Aunt Nannie reluctantly allows Sally to sail away again, this time into the Mediterranean Sea—and right into the clutches of the Barbary Coast pirates. Taken captive, Sally is exposed to a way of life very different from the protected one she has known. Her resiliency as well as her courage and love are sorely tried; however, both she and those she encounters in the Sultan’s palace will never be quite the same for her stay there. This is the fourth book in the Sally Series.  The first book in the series is Away Goes Sally (out of print).  The second book in the series is Five Bushel Farm (out of print).  The third book in the series is The Fair American.  The fifth book in the series is The Wonderful Day.

In this second book about the Pierce family, more than five years have passed since their first moving into the Texas Panhandle. They have learned to live in a primitive sod house and have overcome—and even come to love—the odds that the land with its weather and unusual neighbors presents. Even so, 15-year-old Katie, gentle and artistic, is eager to return to East Texas to be schooled in all the finer things that this pioneer country lacks. Then an accident to Grandmother reverses everything! Katie, to her own surprise, finds herself volunteering to stay home to feed and care for Papa, the boys and Carolyn on the farm, while Mama makes the eastward journey to care for her mother. During the next few months, timid Katie encounters one distressful situation after another, from humiliating cooking disasters, to tough boys at school, to a battle with a blizzard. Despite fears and setbacks, she resolves to do whatever seems needed, acts which often turn out to contain a lot of heroism. As Katie’s confidence grows, so does her interaction with family and new and old friends deepen—all against the picturesque backdrop of homesteading life in the Texas Panhandle during the late 1800’s. This is the second book in the Texas Panhandle Series