The Children's Blizzard

I drove across half the country with my daughter to be her roadtrip buddy. She was starting a four-month internship at a zoo and I got to be part of the beginning of her adventure. The Rockies were icy and slow-going at times, but we got there in three days. While waiting a few days in cold, snowy Minnesota before flying back, I read The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. I'm sure it was partly because it was the same time of year as that blizzard in 1888, but I was enthralled by this story, even when the author lingered perhaps too thoroughly on the weather nuances and perfect combination of circumstances that resulted in that killer storm. I liked how David Laskin filled out the characters and even did research to fill out the peripheral characters, sharing so much back story to really put that time period into context. We not only met people who survived and died in the storm, but we followed them from their countries of origin. I didn't save any quotes from the book, but the story certainly sticks with me.