The Children's Blizzard

The Children’s Blizzard, Melanie Benjamin, author, Cassandra Campbell, narrator
In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, offering land to anyone willing to commit to improve it, live on it and farm it for a period of five years. It was open to citizens, those who intended to become citizens and freed slaves. For a small fee at the beginning and end of the term, the farmer would then own it, free and clear. Basically, it was land taken from the Native American Indians who were herded into areas that confined them, called Reservations. Often their children were forcibly taken and educated in schools where unscrupulous teachers and administrators often allowed both the sexual and physical abuse of these innocent victims.
A show more group of people from Norway flocked to America, in response to the advertising that made this opportunity sound like a paradise just waiting to be experienced. They were coming to a land that would offer them more than their own native country could. In reality, though, it was not paradise. The prairie of Nebraska, where this novel takes place, was stark, lonely and difficult to farm. The weather tried men’s souls. There were lean times and hardships to overcome, as well as the difficulty of initially settling the land. However, once they owned the 160 acres, most fell in love with their land.
This book is about a weather incident that took place in 1888. A devastating blizzard, of a magnitude never seen before, hit the Upper Midwest and was responsible for the death of over two hundred children and adults who were caught unawares by this unpredicted storm. It occurred on a day that began blissfully, unexpectedly temperate and balmy. During the day, while the children were in school and parents were away doing their chores, without warning, a raging cloud formed and descended upon them, stranding them in deadly blinding snow, wind and cold, all with inadequate clothing to protect them because of the unusually warm day that had begun earlier. There was no safe space for the children to run to, and the school buildings themselves were not built to withstand the capricious nature of the weather in the Northern Great Plains. Many froze to death trying to escape or to run home to safety. Many parents died searching for their children in the unbelievable cold. Many died stranded in the blinding whiteout.
How many of us would have known what to do had we been the teachers, in charge of a class of students of varying ages, some not much younger than ourselves at the time and some no older than kindergarten age. Teen-aged teachers Raina Olsen, 16, and her sister Gerda, 18, were both responsible for a class when the storm struck with devastating force, in the Dakota Territory. Each was motivated by a different purpose and each chose a different avenue to protect the students in their charge. Neither escaped unscathed, but one made a choice that had tragic and catastrophic consequences. One became a heroine, and the other was shunned and guilt-ridden. Still, how can one expect teenagers to make decisions grown adults and parents would not have been able to consider.
This book tells the story of a disaster that could not have been prevented, although its magnitude might have been mitigated by better choices. The novel shines a light on a few characters that have to overcome the tragedy and the losses incurred on that day, losses that were devastating. In spite of it all, the novel illuminates the fortitude and courage people showed in the face of enormous danger. It illustrated the resilience of the human spirit, even when facing what seems to be insurmountable conditions.
One of the young children highlighted, a servant in a household who was sold and abandoned by her mother, learns to overcome, adjust and live well after her hand is amputated due to frostbite. Another teenager learns to live without her leg, using a wooden boot, and becomes kind of a nomad to escape the guilt and shame she feels about her actions during the catastrophe. Each finds their own solution to the events of that day which so altered their lives. Even those who did not suffer physical loss, had enormous emotional and mental effects to overcome.
The book is written well and highlights an incident few are aware of. It also is read very well by the narrator who doesn’t let her reading interfere with the story itself. show less

Seeing that it's about lots of children dying in an epic blizzard, I shouldn't say this was a fun page turner, but it really was. It was compelling historical fiction with some good characters. I knew a bit about this topic, a blizzard in 1888 that popped up unexpectedly on the Nebraska plains, right as schools were letting out. The teachers, usually 15 or 16 year old girls, had to make hard decisions about how best to help their students survive.

The day of the blizzard was the first warm day after a below zero cold snap so everyone was out. People went to towns to stock up on supplies and children went to school dressed for weather in the 30s. In the afternoon, this blizzard popped up with no warning and hundreds of people died in the show more storm. Teachers often couldn't just wait out the storm in their school houses, because they were shacks with no insulation and not enough fuel. When school houses were damaged or collapsed, teachers had to try to get the students to safety. Some of these teachers made good decisions and some did not. This book focuses on two sisters teaching in different areas of the midwest and their success and mistakes.

Benjamin does a great job creating memorable characters and both describing the storm and its aftermath. She also focuses on the fact that many of these farmers on the plains were immigrants and explores the immigrant experience.

I really liked this. It's a fast read, not great literature, but a great story.

Original publication date: 2021
Author’s nationality: American
Original language: English
Length: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: library kindle
Why I read this: topic caught my eye show less

Raina and Gerda are teenaged sisters who have recently become teachers. In January 1888 in rural Nebraska, they are put to the test in their respective schools with a crazy winter storm that rolls in just after a beautifully warm morning. The storm comes in just as or before kids are being let out of school to walk varying distances home. They each make different decisions on this day; one becomes a heroine and one does not fare so well.

Anette is one of Raina’s students, who was sold by her mother to a woman who works her to the bone and does not treat her kindly. Although Raina’s other students stay behind, Anette is worried she will be in trouble if she doesn’t come home right away. Her only friend Frederik follows her into the show more storm.

The storm, of course, really did happen, and it was called “the children’s blizzard” because of the timing and the fact that so many children (among other people) died that day. I thought the initial part of the book was its strength; this is, of course, the part of the book when the blizzard happens. The book does continue with the aftermath of the storm and, though it is interesting to see where things end up, it’s not the best part of the book.

As always, I appreciate the author’s note at the end. The bulk of the characters in this book were fictional, but some were based on real people. The author did, of course, use David Laskin’s nonfiction book “The Children’s Blizzard” in a big way in her research. I’ve read it, but too long ago to really make any kind of comparison. show less

The Children’s Blizzard is told from several points of view, but it’s always clear which character you’re with and each felt distinctive. Pretty much every POV felt necessary with the possible exception of Gavin the journalist, who while in the end I didn’t mind him, I still would have traded his chapters for more of Ollie’s story that night in the schoolhouse as well as what Ollie’s wife experienced that night. As a black father gone to pick up his children and ultimately trapped in a schoolhouse with a young white teacher who fears Ollie almost as much as the blizzard, Ollie’s situation was tense in an entirely different way than those out in the weather and I was kind of disappointed by how few scenes that part of the show more story had.

Early on I felt borderline impatient with the setting up of the various character backstories and plots, though honestly, I don’t think it actually went on that long, it’s just that my curiosity going in was mainly focused on the blizzard. And yeah, I would say the blizzard section was definitely the area where I felt most engaged with the book, most on edge, where the pages couldn’t turn fast enough, but ultimately the setup and the backstories were well worth it, the before, the blizzard, and the after, combined for some truly compelling character arcs, some positive, some extremely sad, some complicated, several of which will stay with you after you close the book. show less

Wow, this was a fast paced read, with the action moving between sisters and schoolteachers Raina and Gerda, a newspaperman named Gavin Woodson, a young girl named Anette and bar owner Ollie Tennant. Covering the Nebraska and Dakota Territories, the January 1888 blizzard, nicknamed the Children's Blizzard because so many were lost in and near their schoolhouses, was fierce. Much like the Armistice Day blizzard my dad used to tell me about, the day started unseasonable warm for January. People ran errands and didn't dress for the normal cold weather of January. Parts of this were just horrifying, the author relied on other books and newspapers of the time, to create multi dimensional characters from the stories of real tragedy from that show more day. It wound up being a better read that I thought it was going to be. show less

The Children's Blizzard, based on a true and truly heartbreaking historical event, is an emotional roller coaster of a novel. A January morning in 1888 arrives warmer than usual in the Great Plains and those who have been snowbound take the opportunity to get outdoors: children attend school, families travel into town to make purchases, farmers let their livestock out for a day of grazing. Then, just as school is letting out the worst blizzard in memory begins and hundreds of lives are at risk.

Because of timing of the blizzard, much of the most difficult decision-making is done by young women, still in their teens, who are working as school teachers. Does one send children home on their own hoping they can outrun the storm? Does one try show more to keep the children safe in the increasingly frigid schoolroom? Does one try to lead the children to a place of greater safety? These are life-or-death decisions, and the young women's lives are forever changed by the choices they make.

While the author bases parts of the action on historical sources, she makes it clear that The Children's Blizzard is fiction. With a substantial cast of characters—teachers, students, homesteaders, newspapermen—Benjamin is able to let multiple possibilities play themselves out. One may begin reading this title out of historical interest, but the plot is compelling and makes the reading experience vivid.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less

Riveting! Could not put it down.

This historical fiction, that reads like a thriller, was inspired by the horrific blizzard that hit Nebraska and the Dakota plains on January 12, 1888 and killed 235 people. Because the storm hit on an unseasonably warm winter day, just as children were being let out of school, wearing clothes not suitable for a blizzard, many of the deaths were children.

Two sisters, both teachers, made different decisions on that day. One sister told the children to run home. The other kept them in the schoolroom. Very different results. One girl is judged a hero while the other is smeared by all.

The story picks up just as the storm hits. Benjamin’s brilliant writing made me feel like I was there in the storm. I felt show more the panic and desperation of the characters, felt the excruciating cold, heard the whipping wind. The story then follows the survivors in the aftermath of the storm.

The characters were believable. I was astounded at the serious decisions 18-year-old Gerda and her 16-year-old sister Raina had to make. I became more aware of just how grim life was for these early homesteaders. This is undoubtedly my favorite of Benjamin’s books. I highly recommend it.

I was provided an advance copy to review. Opinions expressed here are my own. show less