Rebecca yearns to own her own piece of land in the Northwest Territories of Canada, where she lives with her parents and three brothers in a religious community of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It’s 1890, and only men are allowed to homestead, but with her mother’s support, Rebecca’s father reluctantly agrees to purchase a deed in her name if she can raise the $480 price. Rebecca’s quest to fulfill her desire for land isn’t the only challenge facing her in this exquisite historical novel. Rebecca struggles to understand her feelings toward two young men—quiet and reliable Coby, whom she’s known for years, and handsome and outgoing Levi, the bright center of every social gathering. Her community faces catastrophic blizzards and floods, influenza and stillbirth, and domestic abuse and pregnancy outside of marriage, with the response of Rebecca’s mother—whose faith drives her insistence on compassionate, sometimes radical action—providing insight into Rebecca’s own determined nature. Inspired by her own family history, the author’s fictional story is populated with nuanced and distinct personalities, realistically centered in their religion and era (all are white). But it is with Rebecca’s singular voice, including witty dialogue and snappy comebacks, that the narrative excels at rendering a 17-year-old who is both of her time and timeless in her drive for agency, love, and a meaningful life. (Age 14 and older)

Based on true-life histories, Buffalo Flats shares the epic, coming of age story of Rebecca Leavitt as she searches for her identity in the Northwest Territories of Canada during the late 1800s.

Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Leavitt has traveled by covered wagon from Utah to the Northwest Territories of Canada, where her father and brothers are now homesteading and establishing a new community with other Latter-Day Saints. Rebecca is old enough to get married, but what kind of man would she marry and who would have a girl like her—a girl filled with ideas and opinions? Someone gallant and exciting like Levi Howard? Or a man of ideas like her childhood friend Coby Webster?

Rebecca decides to set her sights on something completely different. She loves the land and wants her own piece of it. When she learns that single women aren’t allowed to homestead, her father agrees to buy her land outright, as long as Rebecca earns the money —480 dollars, an impossible sum. She sets out to earn the money while surviving the relentless challenges of pioneer life—the ones that Mother Nature throws at her in the form of blizzards, grizzles, influenza and floods, and the ones that come with human nature, be they exasperating neighbors or the breathtaking frailty of life.

Buffalo Flats is inspired by true-life histories of the author’s ancestors. It is an extraordinary novel that explores Latter-Day Saints culture and the hardships of pioneer life. It is about a stubborn, irreverent, and resourceful young woman who remains true to herself and discovers that it is the bonds of family, faith, and friendship—even romance--that tie her to the wild and unpredictable land she loves so fiercely.