Module 7: Little Blog on the Prairie

Little Blog on the Prairie
by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Book Summary:

Genevieve Welsh is a typical thirteen-year old girl who loves soccer and her iPod, wants a cell phone more than anything, and can hardly wait to start high school in the Fall. Unfortunately, Gen’s mom has decided to ruin her summer by taking the whole family to Camp Frontier to live like pioneers in the 1890’s. Gen will be missing her friends, soccer camp, technology, and modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, electricity, and screens on windows to keep the bugs out. Gen’s dad and brother seem just about as enthused about this adventure as she is, but her parents are putting on a united front and no one will be getting out of this “Little Hell on the Prairie” until the end of August.

Gen manages to sneak a cell phone into Camp Frontier and is sending covert text messages to her friends back home updating them on her adventures in 1890. Her friend, Kristen thinks the texts are hilarious and uses them to create a blog for her summer computer class. The blog, with it’s witty recalling of Gen’s daily events and the observations of the peculiarities of her fellow campers goes viral. But, this is only the start of Gen’s problems. Between learning how to milk a cow, wash laundry without a washing machine, and catch the eye of the cute camper, Caleb, Gen has to tiptoe around Nora, the camp owners’ daughter, and her mean girl ways.

Bell, C. D. (2010). Little blog on the prairie. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.

My impressions:

This was an excellent realistic fiction novel for young adults. Bell’s portrayal of Gen is spot-on for a 13 year old girl (I know because I teach 13 year olds!). I loved that Gen’s family was able to bond through the difficult experience and their former mode of communication with each other was challenged. Initially the entire family seemed to be their own separate island, not really working together, but instead resenting each other. I also liked that Gen’s family was continuously the low scorers in the progress assessments at Camp – this seemed to me to be a very realistic scenario and the Welsh family performed about as well as I would expect my own family to perform in similar circumstances. Gen has to deal with very realistic issues like girl rivalry and jealousy, a first crush, and family issues. I liked that in the end Gen came to appreciate her parents more and saw her little brother as her best friend. Bell uses Gen’s character to model appropriate conflict resolution throughout the book as well as showing that sometimes we must face the consequences of our actions.

Professional Review:

Gr 5–8—Imagine it is 1890. No iPods, no cell phones, no jeans or tank tops, no electricity, and no indoor plumbing. This is the life that Gen Welsh has to endure for the whole summer, since her mother has decided that the family's vacation will be at a frontier-living fantasy camp near Laramie, WY. When they arrive, all modern conveniences are taken away, but Gen is granted her one wish: Clearasil. Secretly she has hidden her new cell phone in the product's box, and uses it to text her friends back home. They use her messages to start a blog, which takes off and gets media attention. Meanwhile, back at camp, a first romance and a good, clean girl rivalry are bubbling among the milking of cows and clearing of forest. As the families make their way through a difficult season, the teens discover their strengths and weaknesses. This fast read is humorous and insightful, with realistic characters that are refreshingly well rounded. Bell has captured a 13-year-old's voice, making Gen's unlikely situation feel very real. A solid choice for collections serving tweens.

Reynolds, A. (2010, May 1). [Review of the book Little blog on the prairie, by C. Bell].
      School Library Journal, 56(5), 105. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/ 

To her great dismay, 13-year-old Gen is spending her entire summer with her family at a frontier camp, where they must re-enact life from 1890, living without technology, growing their own food, tending a cow and chickens, and wokring on a project to better the farm. It's a fun premise that leaves Bell (Slipping) ample room for physical comedy, while touching on themes of family and the (dis)advantages of modern life. Gen holds onto her sanity by sending secret text messages to her best friends ("I am standing in the middle of a cornfield. I am holding a hoe... [W]e are farmers now"), which they turn into a blog that attracts national attention. Cute Caleb, a fellow camper, a fellow camper, is a welcome distraction for Gen, though he seems interested in Nora, teh daughter of the couple that runs the camp, and the two girls butt heads. Gen growing appreciation for the simple life is predictable (though she never entirely drinks the Kool-Aid-- make that warm cow's mile) and the reconciliation between Gen and Nora feels contrived, but it's still a lively journey with empathatic characters. Ages 12 and up.

[Review of the book Little blog on the prairie, by C. Bell]. (2010, April). Publisher’s
       Weekly, 257(16), 54. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/

Library Uses:

This book would be a great tie in to blogging about Young Adult literature with students. As a supplementary activity while reading this novel, students could be brought in to the library and shown a class blog revolving around the novel. The librarian could post discussion questions for each chapter and students would be required to post comments to a certain number of discussion starters throughout the novel unit.