Alice Ramsay's Grand Adventure (by Don Brown)

In 1909, Alice Ramsey drove out of New York City and onto the pages of history when she fulfilled her goal of being the first woman to drive across America. But the trip in that old Maxwell touring car wasn't an easy one. Despite the bumpy wagon trails, hailstorms, floods and the stops to allow pigs to cross, Alice saw the trip as an adventure, and fell in love with her country as viewed from a car with a top speed of forty-two miles an hour.

Can a drive in a vehicle that tops out at 42 miles per hour be considered an adventure in this hurry-up society? "Yes!" a group of young children exclaimed after hearing the story of Alice Ramsey. Author Don Brown deftly details the hardships that Alice and her companions went through on her drive into history.

Brown's watercolors -- some full-page, others dotted around the text -- help the story move more quickly than Alice's Maxwell touring car did. Particularly clever are the dark pages with white text explaining how Alice had to drive at night through the hot desert. The story also provides a mini-geography lesson, as the car chugs through farmland, cities, flatlands, and mountains.