Bess's Log Cabin Quilt - Softcover

Grade 3-4?Bess Morgan, 10, and her mother are alone on their farm in the Oregon Territory while her father travels with a wagon train. When Mrs. Morgan becomes ill and the family is threatened with eviction by a frontier loan shark, Bess decides to enter her first quilt in a contest to win enough money to pay the debt. Would that we all had children like brave Bess! She bakes biscuits for breakfast, takes care of her mother and the farm, then comes in and works on her quilt until her fingers are pricked and her eyes are burning. Wait, there's more. When Indians break into the cabin and Mrs. Morgan faints, Bess fires Papa's gun and scares them away. Pioneers survived by helping one another, and adults do come to the Morgans' aid. Many plot elements, however, seem unrealistic. At the beginning of the book, Mrs. Morgan is teaching young Bess how to make a quilt. The child is impatient and repeatedly makes mistakes. After the bill collector's threatening visit, she works hard and finishes the quilt in three weeks. The front-runner in the competition withdraws when she realizes Bess's situation, but cautions the child that she is up against many accomplished and experienced quilters. Bess does not win?she ties for second?but it still seems unlikely. When Bess gets home with her prize money (the exact amount needed to erase the debt), Papa has returned, and has already paid it off. Too facile, too saccharine, too much.?Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 2-5. Eleven-year-old Bess Morgan eagerly waits for her father, who has traveled back east to bring new settlers to their community, to return to their Oregon frontier home. She's concerned because he's already a month overdue, but her worries multiply when her mother is stricken with swamp fever and a debt collector threatens to repossess their farm. Feeling her only hope is to win the quilt contest at the fair, Bess works day and night to finish her log-cabin pattern coverlet in time for the judging. Although Love offers stereotypical views of both the early settlers (strong, brave, and determined in spite of overwhelming adversity) and the Native Americans (ever willing to steal, capture, and scalp), Bess, whose daily life stands in sharp contrast to that of contemporary children, will appeal to young readers. Short chapters and large print add to the appeal of this first chapter book. Kay Weisman