DEAR AMERICA: MY FACE TO THE WIND
The Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881

ISBN: 0590438107
Scholastic
Ages: 9-13
Fiction
Study Guide

Life on the prairie can be harsh and no one knows that better than Sarah Jane Price who becomes an orphan when her father dies from the diphtheria that sweeps through their Nebraska town. Wanting to stay near her father’s grave but with money dwindling, Sarah faces the prospect of being sent to an Orphan Asylum. Instead, she decides to find work to support herself. Hoping to utilize her own talent for teaching to pay her room and board, she must persuade the townspeople that, although only 14-year-old, she can replace her father and handle a classroom full of children --- especially when some of them are almost her age.

Unlike many of her contemporaries, Sarah is undaunted by the hardships of prairie life. As she wins the students' respect and helps restore a dilapidated schoolhouse, Sarah develops pride in herself and in her profession. In her diary, Sarah records how she copes with her loneliness and fears, deals with the rowdy children, survives the harshest of winters and becomes the town's heroine.

In the late 1870s, many young teachers traveled West to earn money and make a new life for themselves, despite the schools being inadequate at best. Some returned home, unable to endure the hardships of prairie life, but others were more committed to their work. Based on true stories and intensive research this is the heartwarming story of Sarah Jane Price who made her own little house on the prairie.

Horn Book: "An accurate and engaging depiction of the challenges and triumphs of living on the open prairie."

School Library Journal: "Brings to life the problems and day-to-day activities of an educator while also providing a glimpse into life in Nebraska during the late 1880s.

Kirkus Reviews: "…a truly compelling story. Murphy’s historical notes at the back fill out the details of early American education and prairie life. His fiction allows the reader to learn attitudes and hardships in the struggle for survival on the prairie through the mind of a participant."

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