Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas

It's 1920 and the mining town of Swandyke, Colorado will be forever changed by an avalanche that buries nine local schoolchildren. In the novel, the reader is introduced to the parents and caregivers. There are sisters Lucy and Dolly (who haven't spoken in years), Joe Cobb (the only African-American resident of Swandyke, having fled prejudice and injustice in Alabama), Grace (lonely wife of the mine manager), Civil War veteran and grandfather Minder Evans and, lastly, prostitute Essie Snowball (who watches over her daughter, Sophie, being cared for by her friend, Martha). Four children will survive the horrible tragedy in this novel that explores the lives of both men and women and the choices they make when faced with disappointment, society's rules, and forgiveness.