The Girl Who Moved to the Town That Wasn't There by Suzanne Hovik Fuller

Pa stopped his oxen at the top of the hill. Pointing down into the valley, he announced, "There's our new home." But all ten-year old Virgie saw were two houses and trampled grasses. There was no town. No school, no stores, and worst of all - no children.
Virgie didn't know it yet, but loneliness would be the least of her challenges on the harsh prairie of Dakota Territory.

Hardcover
210 pages
Black & White Images
ISBN: 978-0-578-71305-2

Published by the Siouxland Heritage Museums and written by former newspaper journalist and author Suzanne Fuller, this is the story of the birth of a town and the struggles of the people. Using the local newspaper from 1880, Fuller, the great-granddaughter of those early pioneers, weaves together a fictionalized story inspired by the real history of a family that had roots in the village of Egan.

About the author: Suzanne Hovik Fuller has been a writer for her entire career. She was an award-winning staff writer and consumer investigative reporter for the Minneapolis Star from 1964-1975, and she taught reporting at several colleges from 1977-1982. She also served in many leadership roles as a community volunteer for several non-profit organizations that served children, families, and the arts. Suzanne is a native of Sioux Falls. Her love of South Dakota is deeply rooted in her experience of the land, walking the fields during hunting season and nurturing native prairie, and in her ancestors whose graves she still places geraniums on in Egan's Hillside cemetery. The Girl Who Moved to the Town That Wasn't There is Suzanne's first book.

Image description: The illustration on the cover features a young girl standing in a field of golden wheat, with her hair flowing in the wind. She is wearing a pink shirt and a white skirt. The sky above the field is blue and has the title printed in it in red lettering. There are also two medals shown on the cover the WILLA Literary Award and the Midwest book award. The author's name is printed in the center at the bottom of the cover.