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Reply To: First impressions

Nancy Bethel — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 16:04:17 +0000

I enjoyed this book, but it disturbed me that the teacher took the kids out into the blizzard, rather than waiting for help or waiting for it to pass! The teacher was young, tho, and I guess she thought home was not that far away? Heartbreaking that some who died were so close to home but couldn’t see it!

Reply To: First impressions

Emily — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 05:12:15 +0000

I’m going to be the minority here. I did not enjoy this book. I had heard about the blizzard prior to reading and while historical fiction is not a preferred genre I have read a few others. This one was so heavily fiction that I honestly don’t think it should be called historical fiction. I found it difficult to find characters likable. I also read this during a winter storm and perhaps the mood just wasn’t right for me. This wasn’t a good fit for me, but I’m glad that I read it.

Reply To: First impressions

Keela Whewell — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 01:36:23 +0000

I, too, thought about Laura Ingall’s while reading this novel!

Reply To: First impressions

Keela Whewell — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 01:35:18 +0000

I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t really know much about this event in history, but do remember watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie where there was a blizzard and Miss Beadle let the kids go home from school in it. I wonder if Laura and Mary were in this Blizzard!

I am excited to participate in this challenge and use it to learn about historical events I know little about…my 1910-1920 book is going to be about Ellis Island, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, or the Titanic and not WWI which I tend to gravitate towards.

Reply To: First impressions

Marilyn Smith — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 19:48:03 +0000

I had heard of the blizzard, but I believe it was when I read a preview of the book before it was published. I started reading it just as the first snowstorm of the year was coming through. Reading the first part at bedtime as the wind was howling outside made it feel almost too real! And I dreamed blizzards too. I’d tell someone to read it in the summer! I

Reply To: First impressions

Dawn — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 14:17:32 +0000

I loved the book. I too knew nothing about this event before reading the story. I read it while going through our first storm and negative temperatures of the season. It helped to reiterate the conditions that were happening in the book. Also made me think about how fortunate we are to have weather predicting abilities so we can prepare for sudden changes in weather.

Another aspect I found interesting was the family relationships in the story. It reinforced to me how they change and as a parent how much our words and actions mentally affect our children.

Reply To: First impressions

Tara Pease — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 18:01:22 +0000

I LOVED this book!!! Read it in just a couple of days. 😊

Like y’all, I had never heard of this event before. Honestly, my first thought was it was the same time frame as the Laura Ingalls Wilder book “The Long Winter.” After a little research (because I’m nerdy like that 😊), I learned this story occurred 7 years after that one.

The part that resonated with me the most was immediately after the blizzard. I’m a life-long resident of the MS Gulf Coast & have experienced many hurricanes, including Katrina. The feelings evoked in the story reminded me very much of the days immediately following Katrina — surveying the damage, looking for survivors, waiting to hear news about family & friends.

Reply To: First impressions

Michele Chevrette — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 23:20:11 +0000

I just finished reading. Apparently, I had read this when it was first published, but recently bought another copy. I was telling my sister about this challenge and the first book I had chosen, and she remarked that she still had my (first) copy of the book. Maybe it was because I read the majority of the book (the second time) after we just had our first significant snowfall of the year, but I could feel what the characters went through, not only during the blizzard, but moving away from everything you know to try to make a better life.

Reply To: First impressions

Jennifer Kirkland — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 20:17:22 +0000

I agree! Fully ignorant about the storm and its impact. Not surprised really that it occurred but not to know of its overall consequences was mind opening.

First impressions

Beth H — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 14:51:33 +0000

I was astonished that this event really happened and I knew nothing about it.