Miss Charity Comes to Stay

by Alberta Wilson Constant, Louis Darling (Illustrator)

Set in the Cherokee Strip during the land run on 1893, this is a story ostensibly written by Betsy, a lively and sometimes over-inventive little girl. Her determination to keep Miss Charity, the one-room-school teacher, where she is, and not embarked on such a silly business as matrimony, almost has dire repercussions, until love and grown-up practicality intervene. The story is filled with domestic event and historical detail.

Genres: Childrens

249 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

How I loved this book! It's a children's book, but it was long - so it took awhile to get through it. It was written back in the 1940's about a family that participated in the Oklahoma Land Run in the 1800's and their life in the panhandle. I was born in Oklahoma, so this was a real treat. Add to it that the book was illustrated by Louis Darling (the original Ramona the Brave illustrator) and it was a great book!!!

[Tricia F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is 1893. The place is the strip of land in what will become Oklahamo. The event is the Run to lay claim to a homestead.

Follow Betsy and her family, who have left Kansas, as they witness their father partake in the Run to stake his claim. Follow them as they work hard to make their living off of the land, meet their neighbors, and start a school.

Can the family survive the trials of homesteading?

[Tirzah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun story set in the 1893 Oklahoma Land Rush told through the eyes of a young farm girl. It reminds me a bit of the Little House books, because the readers learn a lot of history in an amusing, engaging way.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+. fiction, middle grades, historical fiction, Kansas Territory, family, schoolteacher, from stash, keep to give away.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't love this one quite as much as the Miller Girls books, it's still a fun and funny story of a family settling in Oklahoma Territory and the school teacher who steals their hearts.