Calamity's Daughter

JANEY BURKE despises her life at St. Jerome's Orphanage in 1902 Sturgis, South Dakota. She harbors a messy stew of hurt, anger and confusion after having been deposited there at the age of eight by her own mother. She compensates by carrying out elaborate pranks and fiercely defending the younger children against bullies. Though these actions endear her to her peers, she is a thorn-in-the-side to the home's authority figures. Only her friendship with the shy half-Shoshone girl, EMMA TWO-SHOES makes life tolerable.   Then on her fifteenth birthday a dapper stranger waltzes into St. Jerome's. Janey learns that this Englishman, SEBASTIAN KENT, has come to take her to Deadwood to be reunited with her mother. She is further shocked when he reveals her mother is the Wild West icon, CALAMITY JANE. Rebecca Willman was raised in rural Ohio. She attended Anderson University, Wright State University and Urbana University and had two careers--the first as an educator and the second as a non-profit director. During those careers she worked with children of all ages from kindergarten through college. While a classroom teacher, her favorite part of the day was reading to her class from a good book. Since childhood, she has also loved writing her own stories and poems. Along with writing, she also enjoys being active in community groups, traveling, researching history, and reading mysteries. She resides in Springfield, Ohio with her husband, Larry. They have two grown children and one granddaughter.   Keywords: Historical, Teen, Coming-Of-Age, Orphans, South Dakota, Women's Issues, Bullying, Friendship, Action-Packed, Suspenseful