May B. in Mock Newbery 2026

Jul 10, 2015 Beth Given rated it really liked it

Shelves: battle-of-the-books-2021-22-3rd

2016: This verse novel for middle graders is a short, read-in-an-afternoon kind of book. Twelve-year-old Mayvis Betterlys -- May B. -- lives on the vast, untamed Kansas prairie during the frontier days. Her parents have sent her to keep house for some newlyweds, but then the Oblingers leave ... and they don't come back. May is left alone in the primitive sod house to fend for herself -- alone except for the wolves, the approaching winter, and her insecurities about her own worth and intelligence ...more

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May 11, 2012 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012-award-possibilities

This somewhat intriguing book is one that invites more discussion and thought than it might first appear. It's a verse novel, which hardly anyone likes, but I don't think this one will get quite as much of the now-cliche complaints that "there's no reason for this to be in verse" and "just a regular story chopped up funny". The verse novel effect results here in a story that takes place entirely in the narrator's head, which turns out to be pretty effective.

I found the first third pretty cliched This somewhat intriguing book is one that invites more discussion and thought than it might first appear. It's a verse novel, which hardly anyone likes, but I don't think this one will get quite as much of the now-cliche complaints that "there's no reason for this to be in verse" and "just a regular story chopped up funny". The verse novel effect results here in a story that takes place entirely in the narrator's head, which turns out to be pretty effective.

I found the first third pretty cliched and a little dull, as we meet May's family (typical taciturn pioneer parents and pesky brother who gets to have all the fun) and see her move out to a stranger's shanty as a servant/companion. May doesn't strike me as very interesting here; I was much more interested in and sympathetic to the teenage bride whose house she's living in, who we never hear much about--even before the book got around to hinting at a little sympathy for her. May is only away from her family for a few months, and the life is similar to what she knows; the teenage bride signed her life away to a stranger that she's married to, not just working for. And now she has to share that tiny home with a girl who's only a little younger but much more capable at prairie housekeeping than she is.

But the last two thirds of the book delve deeply into depression, loneliness, and survival, in a way that's much more compelling and original than the first part of the book. The survival theme is one that seems to be explored more often with men and boys--I felt strong echoes, intentional or not, with parts of Into the Wild (not the philosophy, the day-to-day feelings), and I thought also of Hatchet, The Sign of the Beaver, and the Tom Hanks movie Castaway. And Ayla in the first two Clan of the Cave Bear books. The situation isn't as dire as any of those, but the writing convinces the reader that that doesn't matter to the internal self that is stranded alone.

The dyslexia aspect of the story didn't really strike me as "too much"--actually, without it, the book would be too short--but I never did believe that it would be quite so important to this character. The author is exploring the idea of what it might have been like to have a learning disability before help would have been available; my guess is that most kids in this situation who couldn't learn to read wouldn't have bothered much with trying, since there were so many other more useful skills they could do and were needed to do. If she belonged to a highly educated family, that might have been different.

I don't think this is Newbery material, but I do think there are kids who will really like it, especially kids who have some background in pioneer stories (so the setting and values aren't completely foreign) but haven't read all twenty million pioneer stories published over the last seventy years, like some of us jaded adults. ...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Susan Dunn rated it liked it

Shelves: committee

Time are tough on the Kansas prairie, so May B's parents decide to send her to stay with a neighboring family to help out the new wife. She doesn't want to leave her family, nor does she want to stop going to school, but she isn't given any choice. To make matters even worse, her new home is a terrible place. Mrs. Oblinger is a mail order bride, and never expected life on the prairie to be so difficult. A few weeks into May's stay, she leaves. Her husband goes to find her and never comes back - ...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Dest rated it really liked it

Shelves: sad, middle-grade, poetry, historical-fiction, survival

Mavis Betterly is the youngest sister in a family of Kansas pioneers in the 1870s. The Betterly family is struggling, so May is sent to live with another family 15 long miles away to earn wages as a helper. May doesn't want to leave, but she doesn't have a choice, and thus begins her bitter adventure.

Told in free verse poetry, May's story is about overcoming powerful odds. Not only is May left to fend for herself in a leaking sod cabin in the dead of winter with hungry wolves outside her door--s ...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Tamsyn rated it liked it

Shelves: children-s, historical-fiction, fms, youngadult, books-in-verse, suspenseful, health-issue

Beautifully written verse novel about a young girl who is hired to help in a couple's sod home, 15 miles away from her own in the Kansas prairie in the late 1870s. The new wife does not take to the life, and May is expected to do all the chores. The suspense picks up when the wife runs away, her husband goes after her, and neither return, leaving May by herself in the sod house. ...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Bekah rated it liked it

Shelves: children

This book is written in verse form and it is pretty incredible how the author was able to write a story that flows so well in verse. As far as the story goes- it is pretty good- but not incredible- and really very short. I read most of this book while at my daughters swimming lesson.

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Jan 05, 2013 Mary Lee rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, verse-novel, historical-fiction

If you've read this, now you know the landscape of my childhood, and perhaps you understand my fascination with the women's history of the westward movement. One more thing: my dad was born in a sod house on this same short grass prairie.

#holidaybookaday 12 ...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Robynn rated it it was amazing

SLJ notable book. Written in poetic format the author tells a thrilling story about a young girl struggling to survive during a harsh winter on the plains.

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Jul 31, 2017 Cheryl Meibos rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4th-graders, 5th-graders

Free verse evokes a sense of what it would be like to live in a sod house on the prairie.

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Jan 20, 2012 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary-elements, great-characters, wonderful-use-of-language, novels-in-verse, strong-women, mg-chapter, historical-fiction, character-study, summer-bookaday

May B is such a great female character. I'm always looking for wonderful novels in verse to add to our classroom library and this one fits the bill. Due to hard times, May B is sent to live with a family 15 miles away to help out the wife who is suffering from depression and can't seem to do anything around the house. When the wife runs away and the husband follows her, May B is left alone in the middle of nowhere to fend for herself. Powerful reading!

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