Prairie Skies: Cabin in the Snow

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of numerous award-winning children's books, including Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, winner of the International Reading Association Award, Girl Wonder, winner of the Great Lakes Book Award, and Apples to Oregon, a Junior Library Guild Selection. She received the 2003 Washington State Book Award for Under the Quilt for the Night. She lives in Oregon. Visit her on the Web at www.deborahhopkinson.com.

Grade 2-4-In this second book in the series, Charlie Keller and his family forge a new life on the Kansas Prairie in the 1850s. The nine-year-old accompanies his father to town to buy supplies and, while shopping, Papa hears about a "free-state" man who has been killed by a pro-slavery man. An abolitionist, Mr. Keller decides to stay in town and help out when he hears that trouble's brewing, leaving Charlie to return to their cabin with the supplies. En route, his dog runs away and he encounters threatening men on horseback; once home, he finds that his mother is about to give birth and he runs for help. During a blizzard, he trudges out to tend to the animals, using a rope as a guide. Finally, Papa returns. Black-and-white drawings capture the drama of the tale. An exciting and well-paced adventure story for beginning chapter-book readers.
Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL
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