My Face to the Wind: The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881

Written in the form of a diary, we follow Sarah Jane Price as she struggles to live after the sudden death of her father. Left alone in a small prairie town, Sarah Jane wonders about her future and what she will do to survive.
Despite her fear, she convinces the town to let her take over her father’s position at teaching. Although they lack belief in her ability because of age, they agree – but make it hard for her, providing her with almost no supplies and much less salary than they paid her father.
Both Sarah Jane and her story are fiction, but they are based on many small towns and small town teachers. There is an authenticity to the story – the struggles of the small town, the people, the hardship, the weather. With complex show more secondary characters, fast plot, and good action, this was an excellent read. I would recommend for school-age kids, particularly as part of educational program about the early settlers. show less

In the late 1800s many young teachers traveled West to earn money and make a new life for themselves. However, the schools were inadequate at best. Some returned home, unable to endure the hardships of prairie life, but others were more committed. Jim Murphy's Sarah Jane Price stayed, braving the rough conditions of the West and the daily tasks that ensued.

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

I don't remember much of these books as individual books, but I remember reading them all as a young, avid reader. I think that ultimately these books are the reason why I love historical fiction novels so much. They all did such a great job of taking me to a different time and place and making it come alive, seeing the world through an older, historical lens. I highly recommend any of the Dear America books to younger readers who love history and need to get hooked on reading!

Life in the small frontier town of Broken Bow, Nebraska, is difficult, especially for a fourteen-year-old girl on her own. Which is what Sarah Jane Price is now that her father, the schoolteacher, has died in an epidemic. Sarah Jane is devastated by this loss. She is unable to remember her mother, who died when she was very young, and her father was the only family she had in the world. She is determined to stay in Broken Bow, where she can be near her father's grave. But her money is running out, and to stay in Broken Bow, Sarah Jane will need to find a source of income. Broken Bow's children need a teacher now that her father has died, and Sarah Jane decides that she can be that teacher. The school board decides to give her a chance. show more But she is young and inexperienced, and teaching is more difficult that she ever imagined. Can Sarah Jane succeed? Fans of the Dear America series will love this book, and I highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction, especially those who enjoy prairie stories. show less

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