I read my first book for the Newbery Challenge! It was "Sarah, Plain and Tall" by Patricia MacLachlan. I was pleasantly surprised at how short it was, considering the fact that I don't have much reading time.
The first person of the story is Anna. She has a younger brother and a dad. Her mother died several years back. Sarah is a woman who quite possibly will marry her father. This is the very basic storyline.
Sarah has spent her whole life in Maine living right by the ocean. Anna and her family live in prairie lands. So, the main idea that the story brings out is the adjustment that Sarah goes through. She misses the water terribly. So much so, that the kids don't know if Sarah will just decide to go home instead of staying. A neighbor friend comforts her with the words, "there's always something to miss."
In the end you find that Sarah discovers new pleasures in this new terrain and that she's able to share some of the joys of Maine with Anna and her family. They both learn from each other and... the world is a better place. (Cheesy, I know!)
