Minna's Patchwork Coat by Lauren A Mills

Minna would like to go to school.  She already knows how to read but she'd like to make friends.  She can't go without a coat though.  It just gets too cold in the winter months.  So she stays home with her parents and makes some new friends there.

Little Brown Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be available November 3rd.

I really liked the feel of this book.  It's set in a simpler time where you lived with what you had.  Since Minna didn't have a coat, she wore a feed sack to church to keep warm.  It didn't do much for young girl's tongues but it kept her warm.  Minna made her own doll and made a teddy bear for her brother.  She's learning herbs from an older Indian woman.  She's making friends with a black boy that lives with the Indian.  She's almost content but not quite.

When the quilting ladies decide to make her a coat, she asks for a patchwork one.  She also asks for the stories about the scraps.  Where did they come from?  When she learns about them, she also learns something about the children at the school.  

There are sad moments in the book but overall it's a sweet tale about a young girl trying to do what's right and trying to make some new friends.  It's not a smooth road for her but she keeps going and things work out.  If only it could be that way for everybody.  I was impressed by how she stood up for her friends.  This is a good read.