To purchase Riding by Starlight
on Amazon from Carroll Thomas Bookseller click here.

To purchase an e-book click here and here to access accompanying maps.


From School Library Journal:

Matty's brother Henry gets his turn to relate his adventures when he leaves their Kansas farm to become a Pony Express rider in this fourth book in the series...the first-person narrative describes scary and bone-breaking work...(as well as) natural pitfalls, Indian raids, and outlaws that plague Henry but they are often dispatched with a lucky accident or two. The descriptions of an avalanche that traps him and Cody in a cave at Christmastime engage readers, but the boy spends more time as a scout, station attendant, and waiting than he does as a Pony Express rider.



"Riding by Starlight represents a brilliant effort to captivate the reader and successfully recreate the excitement, true spirit of adventure, and friendship during the 1800's westward expansion. Wonderful, informative, entertaining."     Wayne Ryznar, 6th grade teacher, Simsbury, Connecticut


Fifteen-year old Henry Trescott is concerned about the drought that is destroying his family's farm, so he leaves home in hopes of finding a job as a Pony Express Rider. A good rider can make $25 a week - and Henry is sure he can earn enough to save the farm in a few weeks. Things turn out differently than he plans, and it is almost a year before Henry is able to return home. In that time he makes new friends and comes of age in a rough and dangerous world.

An Excerpt from Riding by Starlight:

   My horse was a California mustang, surefooted in the uneven terrain, and we flew along the rocky ground. It was a hot day. Several times my vision blurred from sweat dripping into my eyes, but I did not dare try to wipe my brow. Every muscle in my body was intent on getting to the fort as fast as possible. My heart was pounding in time to the drumming of the horse's hooves. A song started forming in my head.
         "Clippity-clop. Clippity-clop. Don't stop."

               

From the Author:

Riding by Starlight is the story of Henry Trescott's adventures, an idea suggested to us by one of our friends, Judy Cowell, a middle school teacher who has been a great supporter of our books. After reading Blue Creek Farm Judy commented that Henry was such an interesting character that he needed his own story. It seemed to us that Henry's story was a natural, and we had fun figuring out how to explain his friendship with young Bill Cody and their adventures together. It was not the first time we wrote about a character's experiences in one book and then had to go back to fill in the blanks to complete their story.

    Learn more about the Pony Express at the National Park Service page at
       https://www.nps.gov/poex/learn/historyculture/index.htm