The Children’s Blizzard

***On January 12, 1888, 235 people were killed by “The Children’s Blizzard” that swept across the Northwest Plains. It is estimated that temperatures plunged to 40 degrees below zero in most parts of North Dakota. Most of the dead were children who died attempting to get home after school. – facts taken from Wikipedia and The History Channel websites.

**This book is based upon the oral histories of survivors.

The morning of January 12, 1888, began as a mild day after a long period of cold weather. Children played outside, farmers tended to their farms, and people ventured out, all without taking their heavy coats with them. While children were leaving school for the day, the blizzard descended upon the plains. Two teachers who are also sisters, Raina (16 years old) and Gerda (18 years old) Olsen were working that fateful day. One would be dubbed a hero; one would face being ostracized after that day.

Teachers were young and barely out of childhood themselves and were often inexperienced. Raina and Gerda were individually faced with a tough decision – send the children home with faith that they would arrive safely or stay in the schoolhouse and hope none of them freeze to death. What choice would you make? Could you survive in those conditions? How to keep warm? What to do if your choice backfires and you have to make a new choice? How do you find strength when you feel you have none left?

This book also tells the stories of several other people: of a young servant girl, Anette, who survives a night outside in the below-freezing conditions; a journalist named Gavin who writes about the blizzard, and Tor, a young man who faces loss and perseveres.

This book will make you feel good that you live in a time where you can go online, check your phone app, or watch the weather channel to know about current weather conditions and you can watch meteorologists track storms. Back then the Army Signal Corps tracked weather conditions and sent out telegraphs. This book notes that they failed to warn the residents of the plains. While reading this I wondered, even if they sent a warning, would those living in rural conditions get those warnings? Who would tell them?

This book is about courage and tragedy. It shows characters making tough decisions and having to live with the consequences of those decisions. It is about loss, it is about hope, it is about guilt, it’s about family.

I enjoyed the book and I love it when I read books that teach me things. Had I not read this book, I would not have known about this blizzard and the tragedy of so many lives lost. Although I enjoyed this book, there was just that little bit of something missing that would have made this book even more enjoyable for me. I found that I felt bad for the characters but did not really connect with any of them.

I do appreciate how she showed not only how the characters themselves but how society felt about both Raina and Gerda. I appreciated how she showed guilt and blame. How a decision can alter not only your own life but the lives of others.

I appreciate the research that went into the writing of this book. I did find it to be well written and informative. Again, it just lacked that little bit of something for me. Others are enjoying this book more than I did and I encourage people to read their reviews as well.

Thank you to Random House Publishing – Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.