Riddle of the Prairie Bride

My daughter has all of these American Girl mysteries. They are excellent for Elementary School age girls. I have read them all as well.

This book is all about Ida Kate. When her Mother dies, she is left all he chores, and can't attend school. A friend of Ida Kate's mother dies also. Her father sent away for a mail bride (that is where two people send lots of letters, and then the lady comes and they get married). Her friend's step-mother was very nice, so Ida Kates father decided to try. When Caroline (his mail bride) gets there she brings a big surprise with her. This is a very good story!

It's 1878. Ida Kate Deming and her father live on a farm on the Kansas prairie, several miles from the nearest town. Since the death of Ida Kate's mother, she has had to take on the household chores: cleaning, mending, cooking, etc. It's a big job for a young girl, and it doesn't leave enough time for Ida Kate to attend school or see her friends much. Small wonder, then, that Ida Kate is excitedly looking forward to the arrival of the mail-order bride that is coming from back east to marry her father. Trouble arrives with the new member of the family, however. Her hair is the wrong color, she's too short, she cooks too well and sings too well, she isn't allergic to the cat, and her handwriting is different from the handwriting in the letters they received. Who is this woman, really? What happened to the woman Ida Kate and her father were expecting?While portraying the hardships of life on the frontier in the late 1800's, "Riddle Of The Prairie Bride" also gives kids an intriguing mystery to sink their teeth into. "Formulaic" it may be, but this is fine for kids. A plot with too many complications could be overwhelm a young reader. My ten-year-old daughter got quite caught up in this tale, and wanted to "keep reading" each evening until we finished it. Readers of other "history mysteries" will not be disappointed with this one. If you have never read one, give one a try.

Ever since her mother's death two years ago, twelve-year-old Ida Kate Deming has done all the housework for herself and her father on their Kansas homestead. The year is 1878, and life on the prairie is difficult, dangerous, and lonely. Ida Kate's father has decided the time has come for him to remarry. He puts an advertisement for a wife in an eastern newspaper, and a young widow, Caroline Fairchild, who has a one-year-old son, responds. Ida Kate is eager to have a mother and a brother, and her father is eager to once again have a wife. But all is not right with Caroline. Soon, Ida Kate begins to suspect that Caroline may not be Caroline at all, but someone else entirely different. But if "Caroline" is an impostor, what happened to the real Caroline? And are Ida Kate and her father in danger? This was a wonderful addition to the History Mysteries series that brought alive life on the prairie in the 1870s. Ida Kate was a spirited, adventurous heroine. I reccomend this book to all those who enjoyed the other History Mysteries books.