A Bride for Anna's Papa

Thirteen-year-old Anna Kallio often thinks about the way life was before her mother died. Now responsible for running the house and caring for her younger brother, Matti, she has no time for school or playing with friends. And she worries about her father, who works in the dangerous iron mines.

When Anna and Matti realize how lonely their father is, they plot to find him a new wife, even trying to arrange a match with one of the “mail order” brides arriving from Finland. But the results are different from anything that Anna expected.

Set in 1907 in northern Minnesota’s iron-mining range, A Bride for Anna’s Papa is a vivid story of the courage it takes not only to survive but to enjoy life in a rugged frontier community.

Grade 5-7-In 1907 in the iron-range town of Chisholm, Minnesota, 13-year-old Anna Kallio has taken over the household responsibilities since her mother's death the summer before. Caring for her nine-year-old brother, Matti, and her blacksmith father does not leave her with much time for school or play. She yearns for life as it once was and tries to arrange for a mail-order bride for her father so that she can continue her education. When Papa begins to take an interest in the widowed school teacher, however, Anna begins to have second thoughts about having a stepmother. The difficulty of mining town life is emphasized throughout as the girl's family struggles through a strike, loss of income, accidents, and a frightening episode in which Matti playfully explores a dangerous mine shaft. Anna's advanced maturity, brought on by her familial obligations, is offset by her wavering, insecure reactions concerning a new mother. A fire brings on the concluding climax, in which Marvin creates the right emotional atmosphere for Anna's acceptance of her Papa's remarriage. Well-developed characters and a plot with enough suspense and drama will hold readers' attention throughout.
Rita Soltan, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.