The Children's Blizzard (novel, quotes, human, mystery)

[DontH8Me]

After a fairly long hiatus, I have finally dived into a new book - The Children's Blizzard. It is a non-fiction work about a devastating blizzard that took place in the Great Plains just before the turn of the last century (1888).

I could hardly stop reading last night - it is so well researched and presented in a gripping way - it really reads like a mystery novel.

Anyone who was a fan of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (the smarmy TV series was not really a true voice for the harsh life of the settlers described in the books) will find connections throughout The Children's Blizzard - the author actually quotes from one of the books (I haven't finished it yet, so there may be more than one book quoted).

I have long been an endorser of the Little House books, and think that children should learn the difficulties our forefathers had to endure and overcome in pioneering this country. So many things kids take for granted these days - survival was so precarious back then, it was not uncommon for couples to have gone through multiple childbirths only to lose those babies repeatedly for various reasons before they even turned 5.

Has anyone on C-D read this book besides me? I'd love to hear others' take on this fateful event described so vividly in this book.

[sweetana3]

I read parts of it while waiting for hubby to check out. Gripping and had me right away. It really is a great read on how difficult life was in the plains during that time. I like how the author tried to follow up on some of the people in the story and their later life.

Note: There have been serious blizzards since in those areas and there still is loss of life. Not to that extent because we dont spend as much time outdoors without protection but it still happens.

[suzeeq521]

I loved this book! A friend recommended it to me and at first I was skeptical, but once I started it, I couldn't put it down.

I agree that we do still get crazy blizzards, but beyond the fact that we don't spend as much time outdoors, I credit the improvments in weather forecasting as saving lives too. While it isn't perfect, the advancements in forecasting are huge, when compared to what they were doing when "The Children's Blizzard" struck. Another book that highlights this is Isaac's Storm, about the hurricane that struck Galveston, TX in 1906. While currently we have short evac warnings for hurricanes, then they had literally no warning.

Another great non-fiction book that focuses on weather and environmental factors is The Worst Hard Time about the Dust Bowl years. Before I read it, what I knew of the Dust Bowl was what I read in Steinbeck. But to have a non-fiction account was amazing. And truly made me think of the environmental impacts humans have on the earth.

Two other rec's (though only slightly related): The Cruelest Miles, about the diptheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska and the sled-dog teams that brought in the antidote. Not so much about an isolated storm, but how folks living long-term in harsh conditions dealt with an emergency. And The Johnstown Flood, which recounts the flood (with both weather and man as contributing factors) and how folks dealt with the aftermath (this happened in 1889, so it is a similar time period as the Blizzard.)