Skylark

Anna narrates this follow-up to Sarah, Plain and Tall. Her mother, Sarah, has never fully warmed to life on the prairie. She keeps trying, but the place she came from keeps returning to her thoughts. Sarah originally traveled from Maine to become Papa's wife. Their first summer together brought a drought that parched the fields, flames racing across the grass, and coyotes creeping up to the well in search of water.

Worried for her children, Sarah took Anna and Caleb back east to Maine, where they would be out of harm's way. Papa refused to abandon his land and stayed behind. Maine is lovely, yet Anna aches for home and for her father. As the weeks pass, she begins to wonder whether the rain will ever come, and whether the four of them can ever be a family again.

Patricia MacLachlan, an American author known for her children's fiction, wrote this sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall, the book that won the Newbery Medal and started the series.