Prairie Whispers by Frances Arrington (0-399-23975-8)
I had been looking forward to this book, watching it get closer and closer as I worked through my bookpile. I liked the premise of a girl on the prairie rescuing a baby from a dying woman the same night that her mother gave birth to a stillborn child. She didn’t intend to lie, but everyone assumed that the other woman’s baby was actually her mother’s. Then the girl had to deal with the consequences when the dead woman’s husband returns.
I found the book slow moving, though I can admit that this was being used to build tension and to evoke the rhythm of life on the prairie. I wasn’t satisfied by the ending either, which I won’t give away here.
Please let me know if you think differently. Perhaps I can be persuaded to your point of view and will start recommending this book to teens, rather than just letting them find it on their own.