Courtesy of Aberdeen News
Posted July 30, 2021
The 2021 One Book South Dakota author is making a virtual stop in Aberdeen Tuesday.
Melanie Benjamin is the author of The Children’s Blizzard, a fictionalized take on the notorious storm that swept through Dakota Territory in January 1888 when a mild day turned into a deadly blizzard.
During the virtual stop, the author is participating via a live video-streaming platform at K.O.Lee Aberdeen Public Library, 215 Fourth Ave. S.E. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will include a discussion about her work and a question-and-answer session. The virtual event will also be live-streamed on the library’s Facebook page.
The book tells the tale of students who had gone to school without their heavy coats. Young schoolteacher sisters Raina and Gerda Olsen were then faced with a life-and-death decision: allow the kids to start for home and risk freezing to death or keep them in the schoolhouse and risk being trapped without sufficient fuel?
For access information, contact Cara Perrion at the library at 605-626-7097 or library@aberdeen.sd.us. The book is available for check-out at the library and available for purchase at the Dacotah Prairie Museum.
