Little Blog on the Prairie, by Cathleen Davitt Bell
Gen Welsh rolls her eyes and throws a fit when her mother announces that the family will spend their summer vacation at Camp Frontier. Of course, Gen’s adverse reaction has no effect on her mother.
All too soon, Gen finds herself handing over her iPod, make-up, clothes, and all other modern accoutrements so that she can experience life as it was in 1890. What she doesn’t relinquish is the cell phone hidden in her Clearasil box (luckily, the camp’s director lets her keep the acne medicine!). The phone proves to be the perfect venting tool as she texts her best friends about the horrors of life on the great American frontier.
The clothes? She wears a prairie dress complete with bloomers and sun bonnet. The cabin? She shares a bed with her younger brother. The food? Everyone eats cornmeal mush and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The chores? Gen’s chores consist of washing clothes on a scrub board, milking the cow, and weeding the corn field. And the list goes on.
The camp owner’s daughter, Nora, hates her for some reason, and the cutest boy in camp, Caleb, would rather be with Nora than her. When Gen discovers the camp director’s secret room, life takes a turn for the better, but the joy is short-lived.
The blog her friend created using her texts has gone viral and caught the attention of a reality show producer!