Module 4: Sarah, Plain and Tall

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Summary: When a widower writes a letter for a wife to help on his farm and with his family, he receives a response from "Sarah, plain and tall." This novel shows how they they learn to accommodate their lives around each other and become a family. Set at a time that people were still trying to settle America, Jacob, the father, is trying to keep his farm afloat and make sure that the crop will be sufficient for his family. Written from the perspective of the daughter, the novel dives into what kids would worry most about. Can Sarah and Jacob fall in love? Will this relationship work?

APA: MacLachlan, P. (2015). Sarah, plain and tall. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Review: Parents need to know that Patricia MacLachlan's Newbery Medal-winning novel Sarah, Plain and Tall -- set in the rural Midwestern prairie during the 19th century -- is the simple story of a widower called Jacob; his children, Anna and Caleb; and Sarah, the woman from Maine who answers Jacob's newspaper ad for a wife. After letters are exchanged between father, children, and Sarah, Sarah journeys from the east coast to their farm to get to know them and decide whether she'll marry Jacob and join the family. The story highlights everyday life on a farm, the children's growing attachment to Sarah, and their wariness that she will find their home too small or too big a change and decide to return to Maine. There's very mild violence in the story itself (a lamb dies), though readers learn that the children's mother died before the book begins. The main source of tension is the children's yearning for a mother and their uncertainty about whether Sarah will choose to stay.

Citation: Schultz, B. "Sarah, plain and tall." Common Sense Media. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/sarah-plain-and-tall

Library Use: This book would be a great edition for librarians to explain what times were like when America was just becoming a nation. It is a great time to discuss droughts and expectations of crops for survival.