Adventure with the Pony Express in YA western

The year is 1860, and in Victory Hills, a silver mining town in the Utah Territory of the Western United States, news of a groundbreaking enterprise is about to be revealed. The dawn of the Pony Express is here, and two young teenagers’ worlds will open up in ways they never before expected. Shelli Sivert’s "Heart of Grit" is a fast-paced historical YA novel set on the American Frontier, following old friends as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime and uncover a widespread conspiracy that threatens those they care for.

It would be improper for a young woman to participate in a meeting of minds held in the town saloon. But when a mysterious stranger comes to Victory Hills with news of a practice that will change the nature of communication, Beatrice “Bea” Brannon doesn’t hesitate to break the rules. She climbs atop a barrel in the alley beside the saloon and peers through the curtain as her sheriff father, the mayor, a mysterious stranger and the town’s most influential men discuss the brand-new Pony Express.

With the Pony Express, mail that would typically take a month to travel east to west on a stagecoach will now take only 10 days to cover a distance of nearly two thousand miles. As talk of civil war looms on the horizon, this communication method could be the difference between victory and defeat. All they need is two promising, fast recruits to prove their worth as riders.

The Pony Express pays well, and Bea’s family needs all they can get to settle the debts her father owes from poor investments in a silver mine that never returned any wealth. An unexpected tragedy spurs Beatrice to enter the riding contest on her own horse, racing alongside the best rider — Charlie Rye, a friend she hasn’t spoken to in two years.

If anybody needs to get out of this town,...