Kid Konnection: Little Blog on the Prairie
When Genevieve’s mother plans their family vacation at Camp Frontier, she couldn’t be any less excited. After all, at Camp Frontier, families spend the summer living like pioneers did in the 1890′s. That means no electricity, no plumbing, wearing long, heavy dresses and growing your own food. In other words, a lot of hard work with no modern conveniences. Gen can’t think of anything worse, especially since the one cute boy at the camp is interested in someone besides her.
Gen sneaks her cell phone into Camp Frontier and fires off texts about how miserable she is to her two best friends. Without Gen’s knowledge, one of her friends uses her texts to start a blog, which becomes wildly popular and causes problems no one could imagine.
Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell is an absolutely adorable book that readers from age 12 and up will enjoy. Gen is such a great character – she’s a typical teen who eventually tries to make the best of a bad situation. I could understand why she wasn’t too thrilled with Camp Frontier, because I don’t think I would be either. I found her to be funny, even when she was miserable – check out her first text:
Help! I’m dressed up like an American Girl Doll minus the fashion sense. My sleeves are so tight I can’t lift my arms above my head. Is this the new me?
I appreciated the glimpse into the past this book gave me and think young readers may learn a thing or two. Campers had to use outhouses, milk cows, grow crops, cook on a wood stove, etc, so life at Camp Frontier was a lot of hard work. It reminded me that I wouldn’t have enjoyed living in the 1890′s and made me thankful that I live in modern times. All the hard work did force the campers to work together and made families closer, which made me reflect on what a double-edged sword all of our technology and modern conveniences are.
There’s a little romance in Little Blog on the Prairie, but it’s sweet and appropriate for young readers. I would recommend this book to early YA readers on up – it’s cute and funny and gives readers a lot to think about.
For more children’s books reviews, go to Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, leave a comment as well as a link on her site.
Challenges: What’s in a Name 4
Review copy provided by Bloomsbury Kids. I am an Indiebound Affiliate.
Oh my goodness, her friend posted her words to a blog. Something to think about. Sounds like a good book.
I’d like to try it, at least for a day and then I would be screaming for modern things
This sounds so adorable! And I love the idea – except for the outhouse part! LOL
Sounds so sweet!
Thanks for sharing this!
This book sounds fun.
Sounds delightful, except for the outhouse, and heavy clothing.
Oh, I bet I would love this book! I have a fascination with life during that time, and there is one show called Frontier House that shows modern families living out on the Prairie and having to milk the cows and farm the homestead, which sounds a lot like this book. I am sure that I shouldn’t have to tell you that it’s, like, one of my favorite television shows ever!
Ooooooooooo I’ve been wanting this one. Though I must admit, I like the other cover better.
I would have hated a camp like this when I was that age but I would love to go to a camp like that now. I loved Little House on the Prairie!
Oooohhhh, my daughter would love this. We read Little House on the Prairie and learned much about that time period. The cover is cute too.
This sounds like an adorable book. I could appreciate a camp like that..if it had real bathrooms.
The story looks fun. I’m going to pass the title on to my granddaughter.
Just the title alone is a throw back to the series Little House on the Prairies with Laura Ingalls. Loved that show for the message it gave and watching Laura grow up before our eyes. What a great little story for young readers to enjoy – going to see if I can nudge my son to take a peak. Wish me luck .
I thought Booking Daughter would squeal over this one! I can’t wait to read it though!
I wish I still had a girl middle reader. I think, though, that I will put this on my list for my bi-annual donation to my son’s school bookshelves, though! It sounds so fun! Thanks for the review!
I would HATE Camp Frontier. It sounds like a fun book though.