May B.

If you've ever been a fan of Little House on the Prairie, you'll enjoy this book, and if you enjoy May B, you should check out Little House on the Prairie.  We have the books in the library, and you can get the TV show from Netflix.

May feels useless.  Her struggles in reading mean her chances of returning to school are slim, and she's not a boy, so she can't help out on the farm like her brother, Hiram.  Her parents have decided to hire her out to Mr. Oblinger and his new wife; they need the money and it's only until Christmas, just five months.  But for May, five months might as well be forever, and the fifteen miles to Oblinger's farm might as well be a hundred.

Soon after she arrives at the lonely sod house, things go wrong, and May will have to find a way to survive on her own.  During these lonely hours she will also work out old frustrations and fears.  It is so tempting to just give in to depression.  Will May B. find a way to gather her strength?  Maybe she will; maybe she won't.

Read Caroline Starr Rose's new book, and you'll be transported back to another time when May's survival is a day to day matter, but many of her struggles are the same ones children face today.  The format of this verse novel contributes to the starkness and loneliness of May's life on the prairie.