The Devil's Paintbox, by Victoria Mckernan

This YA novel follows two orphaned teens west with a wagon train. I'm a huge sucker for this kind of thing, and this book did not disappoint. In fact, were it not for the ending and some classic "YA overtones" I'd be tempted to think this isn't a YA novel at all. The people seem relatively realistic and the events are portrayed with accuracy too. I learned a lot about the Civil War and logging, among other things, too.