Cassie hides and watches and listens but then her Gran comes Gran, who is so good at seeing the truth about Cassie. She tongs for an orderliness to life a pattern that doesn’t exist among her raucous, loving family. She yearns to go back to her old home, back to the time before she had yelled at her grandfather, before he had died. Cassie Binegar whose name rhymes with vinegar hates the weathered house by the sea, where there is no space to call her own. And her old tree house, built on the low limbs of a huge maple tree. Ages 8 10Ĭassie thought longingly of the order and pattern in her mother’s old garden inland.

Caleb s Story continues the saga begun by the Newbery Medal winning Sarah, Plain And Tall and its sequel, Skylark, spinning a tale of love, forgiveness, and the ties that bind a family together. Only the special love of Caleb, and the gift he offers, can help to mend the pain of the past. Everyone is excited about the arrival of a new family member except for Jacob, who holds a bitter grudge. But that is before Cassie discovers a mysterious old man in the barn and everything changes. But Sarah, Jacob, Anna, Caleb, and their new little sister, Cassie, have already formed a family, and Caleb fears there will be nothing left to write about. ‘It s your job now,’ Anna says as she hands Caleb her journals, asking him to continue writing the family story. It is hard for me to find things to write about. In Anna’s journal the words walk across the page like bird prints in the mud. Outstanding Children’s Books of 1985 NYTBRġ985 Children’s Books Library of Congressġ988 Garden State Children’s Book Award New Jersey Library Associationġ986 Notable Children’s Trade Books in the Language Arts NCTEġ988 Choices Association of Booksellers for Childrenġ988 International Borad of Books for Young People Honor List for Writingġ986 Jefferson Cup Award Virginia Library AssociationĪnna has done something terrible. International Board of Books for Young People Honor List for Writing, 1988ġ986 Notable Trade Book in the Language Arts NCTEġ985 Books for Children Library of Congressġ988 Garden State Children’s Book Award New Jerseyġ988 Charlie May Simon Children’s Book Award Arkansas

Outstanding Children’s Books of 1985 N.Y. ‘Papa too.’ġ986 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction for Children ‘Did Mama sing every day?’ Caleb asks his sister Anna. But will she like it enough to stay? Anna and Caleb wait and wonder and hope. Sarah brings gifts from the sea, a cat named Seal, and singing and laughter to the quiet house. Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton from Maine answers the ad and agrees to come for a month. I am plain and tall.’Ī heartwarming story about two children, Anna and Caleb, whose lives are changed forever when their widowed papa advertises for a mail order bride.

Prairie Days by Patricia MacLachlan