May is a young girl on the lonely Kansas prairie during the time of homesteaders and sod houses.  She is hired out by her parents to keep house for a newly married couple 15 miles away.  The young wife is terribly depressed and not adjusting to the muddy sod house and desolate life and leaves.  The husband pursues leaving May alone – for months – with wolves and blizzards howling at her door.

May B is a lyrical introduction to historical fiction told in simple free-verse.  While reading it, I recalled Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, particularly The Long Winter.  Sure enough, in the author’s notes she writes how she enjoyed Wilder’s books.  Students who enjoy May B will  enjoy Wilder’s books and vice versa.  The author describes the prairie life most eloquently in this beautiful short read.

Galley review.  Publication date: 1.10.12