Grandfather's Dance (Sarah, Plain and Tall Series #5)

by Patricia MacLachlan

Overview

The fifth book in the series that began with the Newbery Medal–winning Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.

Jack leans back on Grandfather's shoulder. Aunt Mattie's knitting needles click in the dark. The moon rises. The candle flickers in the gentle prairie wind. I close my eyes to keep everything there.

Could anything be more perfect than a prairie wedding? Cassie Witting doesn't think so, for her sister Anna's wedding brings two lovebirds together, aunts from faraway Maine, a long white dress with a wedding veil, dancing under a clear blue sky, and a world that smells of roses.

As the Witting family comes together for this most special day, Cassie sees that life brings the change of seasons, brother Jack on Grandfather's lap, joy, sorrow, and a special dance only Grandfather does.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062285744
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/25/2013
Series:	Sarah, Plain and Tall Series , #5
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	372 KB
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Patricia MacLachlan (1938-2022) was the celebrated author of many timeless books for young readers, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal. She was also the author of many beloved picture books, a number of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

"Did: Mama sing every day?" asked Caleb. "Every-single-day? " He sat dose to the fire, his chin in his hand. It was dusk, and the dogs lay beside him on the warm, hearthstones.

"Every-single-day," I told him for the second time this week. For the twentieth time this month. The hundredth time this year? And the past few years?

"And did Papa sing, too?"

"Yes. Papa sang, too. Don't get so close, Caleb. You'll heat up."

He, pushed his chair back. It made a hollow scraping sound on the hearthstones, and the dogs stirred. Lottie, muff and black, wagged her tail and lifted her head., Nick slept on.

I turned the bread dough over and over on the marble slab on the kitchen table.

"Well, Papa doesn't sing anymore," said Caleb very softly. A log broke apart and crackled in the fireplace. He looked up at me. "What did I look like when I was born?"

"You didn't have any clothes on," I told him.

I know that," he said.

"You looked like this." I held the bread dough up in a round pale ball.

"I had hair, " said Caleb seriously.

"Not enough to talk about," I said.

"And she named me Caleb," he went on, filling in the old familiar story.

"I would have named you Troublesome,"' I said, making Caleb smile.

"And Mama handed me to you in the yellow blanket and said . . ." He waited for me to finish the story. "And said ... ? "

I sighed. "And Mama said, 'Isn't he beautiful, Anna? I "

"And I was," Caleb finished.

Caleb thought the story was over, and 1, didn't tell him what I had really thought. He was homely and plain, and he had a terrible holler and ahorrid smell. But these were not the worst of him. Mama died the next morning. That was the worst thing about Caleb.

"Isn't he beautiful, Anna? " Her last words to me, I had gone to bed thinking how wretched he looked. And I forgot to say good night.

I wiped my hands on my apron and went to the window. Outside, the prairie reached out and touched the places where the sky came down. Though winter was -nearly over, there were patches of -snow and ice everywhere. I looked at the long dirt road that crawled across the plains, remembering the morning that Mama had died, cruel and sunny. They had come for her in a wagon and, taken her away to be buried. And then the cousins and aunts and uncles had come and tried to fill up the house. But they couldn't.

Slowly, one, by one, they left. And then the days seemed long and dark like winter days, even though it wasn't winter. And Papa didn't sing.

Sarah, Plain and Tall. Copyright © by Patricia MacLachlan. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Editorial Reviews

An exquisite, sometimes painfully touching tale.

New York Times

The beloved story of Sarah and her family concludes with a touching marriage and a final farewell. Cassie Witting's older sister Anna is getting married and Cassie just doesn't get it. "I don't love anyone for marrying...except for (dogs) Lottie and Nick." Cassie thinks marrying a dog would be just about perfect. Everyone seems to have someone. Baby brother Jack shadows his beloved Boppa, Mama has Papa, the elderly Aunts, just arrived from Maine, have each other and Anna has Justin. When Cassie reads her journal to Grandfather, detailing her imaginary canine marriage, he encourages her to act out her wedding with the real dog, just in case he's not there for her real wedding. Cassie knows what he means, but does not like to think about all the pills Grandfather has to take or how tired he seems to get. She just likes to watch his funny little jig and marvel at the connection between Jack and Boppa. MacLachlan tells the story of love and loss with the same clear, sensible prose that punctuate the other terrific stories in this series. Cassie and Jack will never forget their grandfather and neither will readers. (Fiction. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews