I didn't read Megan's part of the series the first time around years ago, so I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed it. Poor Meg got the "Beth March" edit, the shy, quiet, boring one, and as a result, is easily overlooked both in the story and to the reader. It is a shame, because In the Face of Danger is not only better written than the first two books in the series, but also a great (and realistic) tale. In In the Face of Danger, Meg is sent to live far away from her brothers and sisters to the territory of Kansas. Also unlike Peg and Danny, and Frances Mary and Petey, she is adopted without a sibling to cling too. Meg believes herself to be a "bad luck penny" because of what a "gypsy" told her when she was younger. Because of this, Meg fears that all the family's troubles are because her her. Adding this to her general characterization of being shy and sensitive, Meg is the child both Frances Mary and their mother worry the most about.However, after reading the story in which Megan meets head on all the obstacles of prairie life with a refreshing sense of humbleness and practicality, it is clear that Meg is the one Kelly child who will be just fine. She's brave and takes to action (see the climax in which Meg singlehandly takes down a rouge outlaw) while Frances Mary merely lets life happen to her. Mike's still the most interesting sibling, but through Meg, the reader is allowed to experience the frontier in a realistic and entertaining way. A must read for young adults who wish to see first hand how the Kansas prairie may have been like on the eve of the Civil War.
Megan is a lot like Luke from the book Among the Hidden. Megan is a girl separated from the rest of her family to go live with the Browders in the west. Luke is a third child of a family and in his community they're not allowed to have more than two children. These two have plenty in common. They both are missing out in something very meaningful and healthy for life. Megan will not be able to experience some things you can only experience with your family. Luke will never be able to know what it's like to be free and go outside and play with friends. Without these experiences, they're not like the average person. I like Megan more because she is more stronger mentally. This book was very interesting but I would recommend it for girls only.
What do You think about In The Face Of Danger (1996)?
In the Face of Danger by Joan Lowery Nixon was a good book. It had suspense and a good story line. The book was about one of the original kids from the book The Orphan Train. Megan is a young girl who goes off to live with new parents, Ben and Emma, on the prairie. For most of Megan's life she has thought she was curse by an evil gypsy. The story is about her over coming this belief and starting to believe in herself. I would recommend this book to anyone that has read the Orphan Train books or likes a good classic.
—Jared M
The third book of the Orphan Train Adventures follows Megan. She is separated from her siblings, and adopted by a young couple in the Kansas Territory just before Abraham Lincoln is elected president. She feels as though she is a bad luck penny because a gypsy once told her she was one. While living with her new parent, Megan learns to adapt to her new life and learn that she is more than just a bad luck penny.Like the other Joan Lowery Nixon books I think the book was only mediocre at best. I don’t think that the characters were developed very well, and the plot didn’t seem to go anywhere. I think this book was for a younger audience, 11-13. It was a fun little story, but I didn’t feel like it got anywhere and was slow. The big point of the story was that Megan realized that she wasn’t bad luck. It took 150 pages to get there, but she figured it out.
—Jessica Richins
