Stranded at Sheep Camp is my first published book followed by the sequels, Danger at the Rodeo and Badge of Honor. I hope you, my readers of all ages, enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Badge of Honor
Summer is winding down for Emerson at this Navajo grandfather’s sheep camp. Grandpa Charlie is bitten by a rattlesnake, and Emerson faces a new challenge driving his grandfather to the hospital in Shiprock. While Grandpa Charlie is being treated, Emerson discovers a sack full of Navajo jewelry with a gold Navajo Code Talker medal at the bottom. Before long, he finds himself in the company of the gang of thieves, and they suspect Emerson has their missing sack. As new dangers arise, Grandpa Charlie guides Emerson deeper into Navajo traditions of walking in beauty and the morning corn pollen ceremony. Learning these traditions gives Emerson the strength to face his choices and stand up to the thieves. But Emerson’s greatest experience of all is meeting the Code Talker whose medal he had returned. Listening to the old soldier’s story brings home the amazing part the Code Talkers played in winning World War II, and Emerson discovers the true meaning of courage and honor and the pride he feels in his Navajo heritage. |
Danger at the Rodeo
Grandpa Charlie takes Emerson to a Navajo rodeo in Window Rock where Emerson’s older cousin, Pete, will compete with his horse, Ellie, in the calf roping division. But a mysterious, temporary illness is affecting some of the top competition horses, and foul play is suspected. When Emerson sees a suspicious man writing notes on horses, he and Lucky follow him to a parking lot where he hands the notebook to another man. Emerson believes these men are involved in the mysterious illness. When Lucky spooks the calves in the calf scramble, she and Emerson are sent back to Pete’s for the rest of the day. That evening, two hooded men enter Pete’s barn and add a drug to Ellie’s food. When they catch Emerson spying on them, Lucky is dog-napped to keep him quiet. With the help of Grandpa Charlie and Stephi, his new friend and barrel racer, Emerson must find his beloved dog and expose the identities of the criminals. Before this is over, Grandpa Charlie teaches Emerson the Navajo belief of walking in beauty as he experiences how the events and people in his life are connected. |
Stranded at Sheep Camp
Eleven year old Emerson’s perfectly planned summer vacation comes to a halt when his father is deployed to Afghanistan, and his mother sends him to his Navajo Grandfather’s sheep camp. Angry and resentful, Emerson is a misfit in a culture and lifestyle alien to him. No laptop, no computer games, no TV, no friends – he feels stuck with a flock of sheep and a grandfather he doesn’t know. Then he befriends a lost dachshund who is as much a misfit at sheep camp as he is. Emerson’s attitude toward Grandpa Charlie changes when his grandfather lets him keep her. Emerson names her Lucky, and with her by his side, his anger and defiance fade as he takes interest in learning Navajo traditions and learning to ride a horse, herd sheep, build a fire, and drink coffee with the men. But when Lucky’s original owners want her back, he vows to keep her and makes a decision that endangers his life. When given the choice to return home or stay with Grandpa Charlie, Emerson chooses to stay and learns for the first time the power of making a choice. |