- Sarah, Plain and Tall
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Sarah Plain and Tall 
Cover of Sarah Plain and TallAuthor(s) Patricia MacLachlan Country United States Language English Genre(s) Children's novel Publisher HarperCollins Publication date 1985 Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Pages 85 ISBN 0-06-024102-0 OCLC Number 11372082 LC Classification PZ7.M2225 Sar 1985 Followed by Skylark Sarah, Plain and Tall is a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan, and the winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal and the 1986 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It explores themes of loneliness, abandonment, and coping with change.
The novel is set in the western United States during the late 19th century. Jacob Witting, a widowed farmer who is still saddened by the death of his wife during childbirth several years earlier finds that the task of taking care of his farm and two children, Anna and Caleb, is too difficult to handle alone. He writes an ad in the newspaper for a mail-order bride. Sarah, from Maine, answers his ad and travels out to become his wife. There are five books in this series about the Witting family. The titles in order are Sarah, Plain and Tall; Skylark; Caleb's Story; More Perfect Than the Moon; and Grandfather's Dance.
The first three books — Sarah, Plain and Tall; Skylark; and Caleb's Story — were the basis for three television movies. These movies are titled Sarah, Plain and Tall; Skylark; and Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End. The screenplay for each movie was written by MacLachlan. All three movies, starring Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, have the same actors playing the roles of Sarah, Jacob, Anna, and Caleb.
Stage adaption
The story was turned into a one-act children's musical and produced by TheatreWorks USA. The score is by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin. It ran Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre during the summer of 2002, with a cast that included Becca Ayers as Sarah, and John Lloyd Young as Caleb.[1] It was brought back to New York in 2004, with a sold-out three-week run off-Broadway. It also ran at the O’Neill Theater Center, Waterford, Connecticut, in August 2003, with direction by Joe Calarco and featuring Kaitlin Hopkins.[2]
References
- ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence."Theater Review:The Pain of Loss, Assuaged by a Fresh Face"The New York Times, July 18, 2002
- ^ Hernandez, Ernio."New Duncan Sheik and Laurence O'Keefe Musicals Play at CT's O’Neill Center, Aug. 2-10" playbill.com, August 2, 2003
External links
Awards Preceded by
The Hero and the CrownNewbery Medal recipient
1986Succeeded by
The Whipping BoyCategories:- Newbery Medal winners (book)
- 1985 novels
- American children's novels
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