Book
Summary:
Genevieve is
a typical teenage girl. She loves soccer, hanging out at the pool, eating ice
cream, and chatting with her friends.
When her mom drags the family to a frontier camp in Wyoming, Gen is not
happy. While at this camp, her family is
forced to experience life the way the pioneers did in 1890. Gen finds it difficult to adjust to a life
without modern conveniences and luxuries, such as indoor plumbing. She sneaks
her cell phone in to the settlement and uses it to send text messages to her
friends. Unbeknownst to Gen, her friend
turns her texts into a blog. Life proves
to be challenging for Gen, but she soon learns to appreciate the pioneer
lifestyle.
APA Reference of the Book:
Bell Davitt, C. (2010). Little
blog on the prairie. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers.
Impressions:
This
book was a delight to read. The author
did a great job making Gen feel relatable.
As I read the book, I felt like I was right there experiencing life with
Gen. Her attitude, her feelings, and her
angst in having a crush for the first time while being so far away from her
friends. My favorite part was when Gen
tried to use the outhouse for the first time and peed on her socks. Had I been in Gen’s situation, I probably
would have held it so long that I ended up peeing on more than just my
socks. I enjoyed reading about Gen
observing the changes in her little brother, and her realization that her
parents hated the pioneer experience as much as she did. Davitt Bell really made the reader dislike Nora.
I loved that each family had a member that confessed some sort of secret luxury
he or she was using during their time in the camp. I thought the secret luxuries like Crisco or
mascara were such trivial items to stash, but some campers were appalled to
learn that other campers were hiding things.
Little Blog on the Prairie was
a fun, easy book to read.
Reviews:
From Booklist-
Thirteen-year-old Gen and her family are spending the summer at Camp
Frontier, a living history camp that is Mom’s longtime dream. Gen is less than
thrilled to be milking a cow, weeding cornfields, and sharing a bed with her
brother; only the presence of her surreptitious cell phone (used to text her
friends) makes life tolerable. Then Gen discovers a secret cabin—dubbed the
“electricity shack” because it contains a computer and a refrigerator full of
diet soda—and she begins to realize that the overzealous owners of this 1890s
social experiment have misrepresented their own devotion to the past. The
author of Slipping (2008) offers
here a comic look at modern technology dependence, especially among teens.
Although Gen comes to appreciate some aspects of pioneer life, and the story
demonstrates how texting can lead to loss of privacy (Gen’s friends upload her
messages to a blog, resulting in national media attention), it’s also clear
that Bell sees technology as necessary and often helpful. Young teens are sure
to concur.
Weisman, K. (April 1, 2010). Booklist. [Review of Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell.] Retrieved from
staging.booklistonline.com.
In the Library:
After the students read this book, I would have the students
research pioneer times, the western expansion, the Gold Rush, the development
of the Transcontinental Railroad, or the Homestead Act. To incorporate technology, I would create a
blog and have the students journal about their research on the blog. As a way of understanding Gen’s experience, I
would ask the students to volunteer to give up technology for one week, and
then share their experiences on the blog. I would be curious to discover how
giving up technology impacted their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment