Patricia MacLachlan writes children's fiction about family, memory, loss and the ways people create a sense of home. Sarah, Plain and Tall is her best-known book, set on a prairie farm where widower Jacob advertises for a wife and Sarah arrives from Maine to meet him and his children, Anna and Caleb. The story is short and spare, focusing on weather, household work and the children's uncertainty over whether Sarah will remain. Skylark and later sequels continue the family's story through drought, separation and change. MacLachlan also wrote standalone novels such as Word After Word After Word and The Poet's Dog, often using concise prose and strong emotional viewpoints suited to younger readers. These are middle-grade family stories with a strong historical and domestic focus, especially useful for readers drawn to grief, belonging and changing households. Sarah, Plain and Tall shows her economical style particularly well through the children's close attention to whether Sarah will make the prairie farm her home. Read more Less
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