Common Sense Media Review
By Sally Engelfried
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Riveting and moving account of girl's struggle for survival.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In the 1870s on the Kansas prairie, 12-year-old May B. must leave her family when her parents hire her out to a newly married couple to help with domestic duties. Although May's father promises her she will be home by Christmas, she feels abandoned and lost, especially when she meets her new mistress, who is not much older than she and is not particularly kind. Though this situation is difficult, it becomes worse: When the young woman runs away, her husband goes after her. And May is left alone, with winter coming on. With no neighbors nearby, May must survive entirely on her own until her father comes to fetch her.
Is It Any Good?
The simple, sparse verse echoes May's loneliness and feeling of abandonment in beautiful, clear language. May's heartbreak over being left by her family and her struggles to read is palpable, but she always returns to the cold, hard fact that she must survive. When she runs out of fuel, she gathers hay and binds it into logs. When she is starving, she figures out how to fish with her bare hands.
But this is not simply a story of physical survival: May never loses sight of her hopes for the future. At night, when her chores are done, she works hard to get through her reading book and wonders if she is foolish for dreaming of someday being a teacher. May's perseverance, not just in surviving but also in following her dreams and struggling to accept herself, makes her a character readers will love to root for.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why the author chose to write the novel in verse form. Do you think it made it harder or easier to read?
What do you think it would be like to live in a house made of dirt and grass?
What do you think May and her brother Hiram meant when they looked for the "the place where land touches sky"?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Historical Fiction
- Topics : History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Schwartz & Wade
- Publication date : January 10, 2012
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 231
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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