I love finding historical fiction that is both impeccably researched and also totally engrossing, and I love it even more when I find this in a YA book.  I love reading YA, so it's always a treat when I find something like The Devil's Paintbox by Victoria McKernan.

The novel spans a couple of years and a few thousand miles, beginning in Kansas and ending in Washington Territory.  Aiden and his little sister Maddy are orphaned and starving on their family's farm in Kansas, where drought has ruined any chance of farming any longer.  When they are given an opportunity to join a wagon train west and work for a logging company there, they are willing to agree to whatever terms are necessary to pay their way across the frontier.

It was a rather harsh and realistic story at times, surprisingly so for YA fiction, but I found it incredibly refreshing.  The descriptions of the settings -- the wagon train, the river crossings, the logging camp and the hierarchy there, and the pastimes of the men there -- all had a feeling of authenticity about them.  The book description calls it "historically accurate," and I have no doubt that it is the case.

Another thing I liked about the book was that it wasn't the requisite happy story that a lot of YA fiction -- and a lot of adult fiction, too, actually -- ends up being.  I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but you definitely don't expect what happens.  If you are inclined to cry during sad scenes in books, I recommend having a box of tissue handy!