When 62 orphans and abandoned children leave New York City on a train headed out West, they have no idea what to expect.

Will they get separated from their friends or siblings? Will their new families love them? Will a family even pick them at all? Future events are wilder than any of them could imagine -- ranging from kidnappings and whippings to stowing away on wagon trains, from starting orphanages of their own to serving as missionaries to the Apaches. No matter what, their paths are being watched by someone who cares about and carefully plans all their tomorrows.

From the Trade Paperback edition.