Melanie Benjamin, author of One Book South Dakota's 2021 book of the year 'The Children's Blizzard' joins us to talk about her book, her writing process, and answer questions on Zoom. Sign up today!
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The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a long cold spell, warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota territory to venture out again, and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats--leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At just the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard struck without warning. Schoolteachers as young as sixteen were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: keep the children inside, to risk freezing to death when fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn't get lost in the storm?
Melanie Benjamin is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling historical novels The Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Aviator's Wife, and Mistress of the Ritz. Her latest, The Children’s Blizzard, is the 2021 One Book South Dakota. Based on extensive historical research, it offers a fictionalized take on the deadly storm that swept through Dakota Territory in January 1888. An Indiana native, Benjamin lives on the East Coast and puts her theatrical training to good use at literary events around the country. When she isn't writing or speaking, she's reading. And always looking for new stories to tell.
Check out a copy of "The Children's Blizzard" today at the library!
This program is made possible thanks to the South Dakota Humanities Council.