The cabin faced west.

The novel I read is an awesome book. The main character in my book is Ann Hamilton, a young English girl trying to live in the West. She had to leave her dearest cousin, Margaret who was living in England. She had to give up being clean, wearing clean clothes, and wearing shoes. She out grew the clothes she wore in England, so Ann and her family had to make all their clothes by hand, because there were no shops, or markets near by. Ann lived in the West on a farm, where they grew beans, corn, and cabbage etc.I gave this book five stars because it was a very interesting novel. It was interesting because I got to read about how Ann had to live in a totally new place, where she had no church, no school, and no market like the markets she had in England. In this book there was nothing I didn't like, I admired Ann when she moved to a new place, because she dealt with it very well. It was very neat to learn about how she got to meet General Washington. I especially liked this book because it had a very happy ending.

What better way for a child to learn history than through reading a well-written, fascinating story set in a previous era? This book is outstanding in that category. The history is authentic, the story engaging, the reading level accessible for an elementary age reader. I especially appreciated the realistic and warm family relationships in the book. Beautiful themes of adjusting to change and accepting new challenges. My 6-year-old daughter enjoyed it as much as I did.

I am very surprised at the number of poor reviews this book has gotten. As a kid, I thought it was great BECAUSE of the low action format, and that the concentration was on what life was like for the REAL heroes of our nation during a most underrated time in our nation's history. Ann HATED the idea of moving 'out west' (western Pennsylvania) at the beginning of the story, but, by the end, she learned just what an impact every day people such as she and her family had in helping our nation's growth. Such interesting historical facts like not letting the cooking fire go out (no lighters or matches in the 18th century!), and showing, pretty accurately, life without electricty, TV, videos, radios, cars, or even paper to write on. No, there's not much action, but there IS much more, especially for the youngster who has an interest in the past. When I was ten, this book was a favorite - even though the main character was a girl - taboo at that age - and I recently reread it and I found I STILL could not put it down. Not every life was filled with fighting and killing. And 'The Cabin Faced West' is one of those that show life as it really was in the late 18th century America. If I could, I'd give it 10 stars!

The Cabin Faced West is an intriguing story of a family that has moved west, which is such a remote place that it is only populated by two families.The two families contain nothing but male figures (that are Anne's own age!) Anne Hamilton is having a rough time working out this problem. She must stay strong and overcome these dissimilarities and strive to be friends with the outgoing, down- to- earth, Andy McPhale. She has almost given up when suddenly a visitor changes her thoughts and gives her the ability to go on. I think this book is very tasteful, witty, and also seems very real. I would definetly recommend this book to a friend . If you like the Little House On The Prairie you'll love this book.If you like mysteries,adventures, surprises,or you just enjoy reading books on the early frontiers,and pioneers, you'll love this book.As I said I would definetly recommend this book to a friend , as I recommend it to you.*****

Jean Fritz is an outstanding author!! As a home school mom who is always looking for EXCELLENT literature, this is definitely quality reading, to be read out loud to children, or for 4th graders and up reading alone.