Sadie Rose and the Mad Fortune Hunters

“What are you gonna do with us?” asked Riley hoarsely. Sadie couldn’t speak around the tight lump in her throat. Hawser laughed. “Why, I’m taking you with me to help me in my new business. And Sadie here will go along until we find somebody that’ll trade for her or pay a good sum of money for her.”

Book: Sadie Rose and the Mad Fortune Hunters (Sadie Rose Adventure, Book 5)by Hilda Stahl, Crossway Books, 1990

Genre: Historical Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 10-14

Subjects: Trust in God, Fairness/Justice, Mental Illness, Showing Love, Fear, God’s Will

Summary: You can’t sell your children for a horse! At least someone in their right mind knows you can’t. But apparently Monday Malda is not in her right mind. When the Malda family stops at the Yorks as they travel through on their way to the Missouri, Ma and Caleb, their stepdad, are not home. So Riley and Sadie and the other York children do their best to show hospitality to the travelers. But they are a strange family. They have ten kids but don’t seem to have a clue what to do with any of them. When Sadie wakes up the next morning she discovers that the Melda family snuck out in the middle of the night – with Riley’s new colt! And worse still, they seriously left behind the two youngest children as payment! Riley and Sadie take off after them but run into one problem after another. Soon they are wondering if they will ever get home again.

Notes: The Mad Fortune Hunters is the fifth of the Sadie Rose Adventures. This series tells of a twelve year old girl’s first year living in the Nebraska sandhills during the pioneer days. Sadie has a knack for getting into danger. The series focuses a lot on family relationships as Sadie lives with her mother, stepdad, older sister, older brother, younger sister and younger brother. It also focuses a lot on the hopes and dreams of marriage for the young girls. The culture was for girls to marry quite young so the characters, especially Sadie’s older sister focus heavily on trying to find a good husband. There is also a strong thread of forgiveness and the importance of telling the truth running through the series.

In this fifth book, Sadie has finally managed to learn how to forgive and how to control her anger and things that upset her. The focus of this book is more on Riley as he struggles to follow God’s leading and obey what he senses God wants him to do even when it hurts. It addresses the issue of mental illness as Monday, the mother of the family who stole from them is not in her right mind. Riley and Sadie encourage her to put her trust back in God, leaning on Him for strength when she feels afraid.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Psalm 56:3 – When I am afraid, I will trust in You.