The old Indian's warning said the coming winter would be hard and long, so Laura's father moved his family from the claim to his house in town. The claim shanty wasn't strong enough to keep out blizzards, and if they were snowed up there, far from help, they might freeze or starve. The shops in town were full of supplies; and if their stocks ran out, the trains would bring more. But when winter came, the blizzards raged and screamed over the town. When Laura woke in the mornings, she heard the terrifying noise of the storm, and every nail in the planks above her head was thick with frost. There were no trains. Soon there was no oil for the lamps, no fuel for the stove. Laura's family lived on coarse brown bread, made from corn ground in the little coffee mill. They burnt hay; and Ma made a button lamp that gave a tiny light. It was May before the snow melted, and the first train got through. On it was the Ingalls' Christmas turkey, still frozen stiff. What a dinner that was!
I had not read The Long Winter in a long time and had forgotten what a classic children's book it was. Like The Force Awakens, The Long Winter felt like a throwback to the earlier books, with the return of Mr. Edwards, stories of Pa's childhood told by the fire and his nightly songs on the fiddle. It was like an old friend had come home.
Laura, while only fourteen has grown up and with school and farm work has taken on more responsibility and showed that she could be relied upon and therefore much more mature than its five predecessors.
I also liked that Almanzo had a bigger role in this novel, introducing the readers to a man who had grown up and was no longer a Farmer Boy. He was a strong character who did what he felt was right rather than take the easy way out.
Of course the main event of the book was the seven month-long winter and desperately read to learn of the Ingalls' fate and how they survived the blizzard and their resilience made for a fantastic story.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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30 April, 2016:
Finished reading
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30 April, 2016:
Reviewed