Bloomsbury, 2010.

Genevieve was hoping to go to Club Med and soccer camp, her family’s usual summer vacation, but this year Mom has dragged the family — kicking and screaming — to 1890s family camp. Camp keeps Gen busy navigating the hard work and boredom of life on the frontier. At the same time she’s trying to figure out the cute boy there. Does he like her? Is he going out with the daughter of the owners, the one who seems to hate Gen? The only upside is that Gen can see is that she’s managed to smuggle in her cell phone, and she can use it to send texts to her friends back home. This works great until it runs out of power. As Gen searches for a solution to her power problem she learns that she’s not the only person in 1890s-land who’s got something to hide. In fact, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. When Gen’s friends set up a blog using her texts it’s only a matter of time before the modern world comes crashing into the 1890s.

Little Blog on the Prairie is an engaging look at what frontier life would be like for modern families. This middle-grade book draws heavily on the PBS series Frontier House, which the author says sparked the idea for her, but the story expands to include interesting characters, teen romance, and the twist of one family who chooses to live their whole life in 1890s style. A fun read for both the frontier freak and the frontier averse.