Kirsten Learns a Lesson

Kirsten Learns a Lesson is a historical novel for young readers by the American writer Janet Beeler Shaw, published by Pleasant Company in 1986. It follows a Swedish immigrant girl in a prairie community, and it is set on the American frontier. Kirsten is a recent arrival who has to work out how much of her old life she can keep.

Kirsten's family has come from Sweden to join relatives in the American Midwest, and school is the hardest thing she has faced. She cannot follow much of what is taught, her teacher Miss Winston is strict and not understanding, and matters get worse when Miss Winston comes to live with the Larson family.

The one place Kirsten can be herself is with Singing Bird, an Indian girl she visits in secret. When Singing Bird proposes that they run away together for good, Kirsten has to decide which of the two lives she actually belongs to. She learns lessons in school, but the novel is more interested in what she works out about friendship, belonging and herself.