A School of Her Own

Title: A School of Her Own
Author: Arleta Richardson
Series: Grandma’s Attic, book 6
Major Themes: Michigan, Pioneer Life, School, Teaching
Synopsis: Mabel faces many challenges and new experiences during her first year of teaching school in a small community in northern Michigan.

I am thoroughly enjoying getting to read the Grandma’s Attic books to my children! They are enjoying them, too. Most people don’t realize there are more than just the first four books, but the series continues on as Mabel gets older and moves on in life. A School of Her Own (formerly titled Eighteen and a School of Her Own) follows Mabel through her first year of teaching school, the year she is 18.

Mabel began her teaching career with a flourish, even though school hadn’t started yet, when she threw herself into the arms of an unknown young man at the house of the president of the school board! Swearing Sarah Jane to silence, she attempts to forget the incident. Many other things happen during the school year to keep her mind occupied. A prowler around the school after the children leave for the day, accusations that she is trying to lure a man away from his family and get between him and his son, scarlet fever going through the community….

Even as she deals with all these challenges, Mabel works to keep a Christ-like attitude and react without anger to accusations. She is also trying to make the decision whether or not she wants to marry Russ, the young man she was seeing during high school in Away From Home. Why can’t she make up her mind? You won’t know until the end of the book!

A School of Her Own is a very well-written story of life in a small farming community in northern Michigan in the late 1800s. I appreciated Mabel’s attitudes and the way she attempted to live as the Bible teaches, even when it was difficult. Not all the conflicts were resolved by the end of this book; you’ll have to read the next one, Wedding Bells Ahead, as well.

No warnings!