Anna's Blizzard

Description

When a fierce blizzard suddenly kicks up on a mild winter day, a young Nebraska girl must find the courage and strength to lead others to safety in this novel inspired by the true story of the 1888 School Children's Blizzard. Twelve-year-old Anna loves life on the Nebraska prairie where she lives with her parents and four-year-old brother in a simple sod house. She doesn't mind helping out with chores, especially when she is herding sheep with her beloved pony, Top Hat. On the open prairie, Anna feels at home. But at school she feels hopelessly out of place. Arithmetic is too hard, her penmanship is abysmal, and stuck-up Eloise Baxter always laughs at her mistakes. When a unexpected blizzard traps Anna, her schoolmates, and their young teacher in the one-room schoolhouse, Anna knows they must escape before it is too late. Does she have the courage and strength to lead her class through the whiteout to safety? Alison Hart offers young readers a dramatic story of rescue and survival featuring a plucky, determined protagonist. An author's note provides more information about prairie life in the late nineteenth century and about the School Children's Blizzard.

When Alison Hart was seven years old, she wrote, illustrated, and self-published a book called The Wild Dog. Since then, she's authored more than sixty books for young readers. A former teacher, she lives in Virginia. After a long career as a freelance illustrator, producing work for books and magazines, Paul Bachem now devotes his time to painting landscapes and seascapes from nature. His paintings are in numerous private collections as well as the permanent collection of the Forbes Gallery in New York City. He lives in New Jersey.

"Anna is a strong, appealing heroine, and the story is suspenseful."-School Library Journal "Readers should identify with Anna and admire her spunk."-Kirkus Reviews