Customer Reviews

Prairie Whispers

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a 8th grade English teacher. I saw the review for this novel in The Horn Book. It was excellent! The plot is straight forward and the tension in the story does not let up until the last page. It is a good book to develop questions and ethical debates with your students. "What would you do" will be in your head as you read the entire book. Questions as to Clay O'Brien's true character will also come up. You also have to decide if Mary Kathleen O'Brien description of her husband is accurate. It is a good "thinking book. The book is a quick read with only 184 pages. The print is medium size as well. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a bit of suspense thrown in!

after the death of a new born early baby Colleen went out to get the widow all was well expet the fact that Colleen's ma was to weak to under stand her baby was dead,she didn't know. So Colleen went out to get the widow and then she saw... You'll find out when read Prairie Whispers. Colleen is a young girl who faces a big challenge ahead of her. She just lied for the first time in her life! This is an exiting good book,sitting there for hours wishing it would never end. I think this is history and action all in one book. You'll here about a snake bite that is deadly a lie comeing from a girl who's never lied in her life a death from a newley born early baby, and a mother who doesn't know! You'll see how it all fits in there when you read Prairie Whispers!

Prairie Whispers is a suspenceful novel all the way through. The begining of the book tells when colleen receives a baby from a woman on her death bed. The woman doesnt want her newborn to have to grow up with an obusive father. along with the newborn baby Colleen gets a strong box with goodies and a golden watch for the baby. while the husband is suspicious of colleen taking his things colleen cant even tell her parents or brother what really happend or she could get in real trouble. The most suspenseful part of this novel is when the man takes the baby away from colleen and threatens not to give the baby back unless he gets the money, for he has no need of the baby. Colleen learns that she needs to tell her parents everything and they will take care of it and also dont steal! Colleen also has many other adventures in this book that are also exiting. Colleen knows there will be nothing like this experience of her lifetime.

Prairie Whispers is the story of a 12 year old girl who's mother gives birth to a stillborn baby in their cabin while alone with the girl and her brother. The girl goes out in search of help and finds a dying woman in a covered wagon who has just given birth alone in the wagon. The woman begs the girl to take her baby and hide its existance from her abusive husband. The dying woman also gives the girl a watch and strongbox of money for the baby's care. The girl brings the baby home and wraps her stillborn sister in a blanket and puts her in the arms of the now dead woman in the covered wagon. Now the stillborn baby will not be alone in its grave, the girl's delirious mother thinks she gave birth to a healthy baby, and the dead baby's presence in the wagon will make the deadbeat father think his child died along with the wife in the wagon.

All this happens quickly; however the wagon baby's father returns and starts asking a lot of questions, namely about the missing strongbox. The bulk of this nearly 200 page book then deals with the conflict that the girl is facing. She's lied about the babies, the missing strongbox (which was lost on the way home), the watch, everything. And she's ALWAYS such an honest child, she's so torn. She promised a dying woman to protect the woman's baby, and now she loves the baby as does her family. One lie snowballs into a much bigger lie. The wagon father knows she's lying.

Anyway, the reason for my mediocre 3 star review is due to the fact that the drama is just dragged on forEVER. Instead of finding it building suspense, I just found it repetitive and tiresome. I am not a "skimmer" but after the first 100 or so pages I found myself skipping to every third page or so, reading a paragraph, then skipping ahead a little more. Kind of a "yeah-yeah-yeah-get-to-the-point" sort of thing.

THe story has some saving grace. The trials and tribulations of life on the prairie during pioneer days will be interesting for kids to read. There is suspense here, but the overly drawn out nature of the book spoiled the suspense for me.

My daughter was reading this book for a class. I had glanced at the cover and thought it looked interesting. I read the back cover and was hooked. I read the book in one evening. Great book with lots of moral dilemmas and suspense.