A review by bookgirl4ever
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

4.0

St. Joe, Missouri is the jumping off point for pioneers and Argonauts heading west. Musical prodigy Sammy is upset that her father moved her from New York to this smaller, less accepting town. She is even more upset that her father wants to move to California with his friend Trask after he earns the funds to do so. Then her father's general store burns with him in it. Alone with no one else to trust, she accepts the invitation of the store's landlord to stay in his "hotel". She soon learns his has unworthy motives and as he tries to rape her, she kills him. Sammy and slave Annamae escape the hotel and decide to travel west as boys. Sammy intends to find her father's friend Trask; Annamae intends to jump on the Underground Railroad and find her older brother. The girls meet up with a trio of young cowboys also headed West and meet with great adventure, trial, and love.

HS