Sarah, Plain and Tall is not, as I assumed in my youth, about an angsty young girl who's mad at life because she's not pretty. It's about a farmer who has lost his wife. His daughter Anna barely remembers her mother, and his son Caleb doesn't remember at all. The children are excited when their father sends away for a mail order bride. When Sarah arrives, Anna and Caleb hope she decides to stay. It's a gem of a book, well written in a way young children probably don't appreciate--but I do.