Title: Little Blog on the PrairieAuthor: Cathleen Davitt Bell
Genre/Audience: Middle grade, YA
Publication: 2010
Source: Library
Summary: Gen is a 13 year old suburban teen who is in for a bit of a shock this summer vacation! Her mother has signed her family up for Camp Frontier, a "vacation" experience in which they will live like real 1890's pioneers including wearing the funny clothes, milking cows, and confiscation of all of their modern things. Gen sneaks in her cell phone though, and constantly texts her friends back home about how miserable it is there and how hard everything is. Despite the arguments with her family, the weird clothes, and nasty food, things start looking up when she meets the cute boy whose family is also "vacationing" there, despite the mean girl who also has a crush on him. Then Gen discovers her friends have turned her text messages into a popular blog which could really stir up some trouble for her on the frontier when a TV crew comes down to meet her. This could mean an end to their experience which Gen was maybe, sort of, just a little, starting to like...
My Thoughts: This book was super cute. While it was a little young for my taste, I think younger readers will love it, and really connect with Gen and what she goes through with her crush, family drama, mean girl fights, and a forced separation from her friends and technology. I loved the morals in the story and the things that Gen learns about what it means to be a part of a family. She learned about responsibility, hard work, and making sacrifices for those that she loves. One disappointment for me was the lack of the "blog" part. I mainly picked this up because of my interest in blogs (because I am, after all, a blogger!). The whole blogging part of the story really didn't come into play until the end of the book. While I think this is fine, and enjoyed reading about Gen's experiences on the frontier nonetheless, perhaps they shouldn't have made the blog seem like a focal point of the story by its title and description. So, just don't expect a lot of blog action if you decide to pick this one up. I think this will appeal to fans of middle grade fiction, history, and Little House on the Prairie! It has a touch of romance which is perfect for younger teens and tweens.
My Rating: 3/5
I've been wanting to try this one! Great honest review. Bummer that the blog doesn't play a bigger role.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is a huge Little House fan -- I may have to get this for her (as she won't be as worried about the blog part).
ReplyDeleteI was a huge Little House fan..both of the books and the tv show! I would have loved this book as a child! I spent many hours daydreaming of living as Laura and Mary did. This sounds like a cute read! Too bad the blog didn't play a bigger role in the story.
ReplyDeleteAwww, as soon as I read the title and started reading the summary, I hoped blogging would be a bigger part. Too bad it isn't. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteI'm always attracted to books featuring bloggers too … but I don't think this one is for me. However, I totally got into the mini-series Frontier House, in which several families lived like pioneers in the past.
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