The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin
The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin Book Summary
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren.
“A nail-biter . . . poignant, powerful, perfect.” —Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network
The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again, and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats—leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as sixteen were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: Keep the children inside, to risk freezing to death when fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn’t get lost in the storm?
Based on actual oral histories of survivors, this gripping novel follows the stories of Raina and Gerda Olsen, two sisters, both schoolteachers—one becomes a hero of the storm and the other finds herself ostracized in the aftermath. It’s also the story of Anette Pedersen, a servant girl whose miraculous survival serves as a turning point in her life and touches the heart of Gavin Woodson, a newspaperman seeking redemption. It was Woodson and others like him who wrote the embellished news stories that lured northern European immigrants across the sea to settle a pitiless land. Boosters needed them to settle territories into states, and they didn’t care what lies they told these families to get them there—or whose land it originally was.
At its heart, this is a story of courage, of children forced to grow up too soon, tied to the land because of their parents’ choices. It is a story of love taking root in the hard prairie ground, and of families being torn asunder by a ferocious storm that is little remembered today—because so many of its victims were immigrants to this country.
The Children's Blizzard Book Details
Book Name | The Children's Blizzard |
Genre | Historical |
Author | Melanie Benjamin |
Published | 12 January 2021, Tuesday |
Price | $6.99 |
E-Book Size | 6.71 MB |
The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin Book Reviews
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The children’s Blizzard. I loved this story. There were enough facts to make it informative about this grave and unfortunate event. Many issues were hit upon like racism, poor treatment of women and how little say they had about their lives and how Native Americans were forced to give up their lives to assimilate into society. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction. This book was an eye opener.
Well written and engaging. I heard about this book before it was written and picked it up on word of mouth. It is very good. The characters are fully fleshed out and you get a sense of the troubles and decisions that everyone had to make- for better or for worst.
A book full of feelings. What a fascinating story, how one event can shape so many lives, so differently. None of the characters are heroes and what a hard life the settlers had. A glimpse of it
Good story, good book. It is sad that the loving sisters parted. The storm changed so many things, so many lives. The writing was very descriptive and made it easy to believe in the characters.
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5 Books like The Children's Blizzard (Melanie Benjamin)
Melanie Benjamin (born November 24, 1962) is the pen name of American writer Melanie Hauser (née Miller). Personal life Born November 24, 1962, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Melanie is one of three children. Melanie attended Indiana University--Purdue University at Indianapolis then married Dennis Hauser in 1988; they presently reside in the Chicago, Illinois area with their two sons. Melanie is a member of the Random House Speakers Bureau. Publishing history As Melanie Hauser, she published short stories in the In Posse Review and The Adirondack Review. Her short story "Prodigy on Ice" won the 2001 "Now Hear This" short story competition that was part of a WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) program called Stories on Stage, where short stories were performed and broadcast.When Melanie sold her first of two contemporary novels, she had to add Lynne to her name (Melanie Lynne Hauser) to distinguish her from the published sports journalist Melanie Hauser. The first of Melanie's contemporary nove....
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