Module 4- Realistic Fiction: Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen DaVitt Bell

*Summary:

Family vacation is supposed to be a fun thing. Fun is the furthest thing on 13-year old Gen's mind when her mom tells her that the family will be going to Camp Frontier. At this camp Gen and her family will live like they are in the 1890s, with no modern conveniences. Gen sneaks in a cell phone to the camp so that she can still talk to her friends. However, when Gen gets back to "civilization" she is shocked to see that her friends have taken her private text messages and made them public for the whole nation to see. Gen learns a lot through her experiences and comes to realize that there are advantages to not being totally technologically dependent.

*Bibliography:

Bell, C. D. (2010). Little blog on the prairie. New York: Bloomsbury.

*My Rating:

I liked this book. I thought this was a clever way for the author to comment on how dependent some teenagers are to technology. I also liked the main character, Gen. I thought she was likable and I saw a lot of myself as a teenager in her. I think a lot of students would be able to relate to this book.

*Reviews:

Thirteen-year-old Gen and her family are spending the summer at Camp Frontier, a living-history camp that is Mom's longtime dream. Gen is less than thrilled to be milking a cow, weeding cornfields, and sharing a bed with her brother; only the presence of her surreptitious cell phone (used to text her friends) makes life tolerable. Then Gen discovers a secret cabin - dubbed the "electricity shack" because it contains a computer and a refrigerator full of diet soda - and she begins to realize that the overzealous owners of this 1890s social experiment have misrepresented their own devotion to the past. The author of Slipping (2008) offers here a comic look at modern technology dependence, especially among teens. Although Gen comes to appreciate some aspects of pioneer life, and the story demonstrates how texting can lead to loss of privacy (Gen's friends upload her messages to a blog, resulting in national media attention), it's also clear that Bell sees technology as necessary and often helpful. Young teens are sure to concur. - Kay Weisman

 

Weisman, K. (2010). Little blog on the prairie. The Booklist, 106(15), 39. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/235628837?accountid=7113

*Uses in a library:

This book would be a great way to teach a workshop about internet privacy or about blogging. The librarian could read excerpts from the book as a fun way to make a point.