Review: Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

April 8th, 2010 | 4.5-5 Treasure Chests, Autobiography or Biography, Guest Review, Historical Fiction, J-L

by BookWatch, guest reviewer

Title: Hattie Big Sky
Author: Kirby Larson
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 304
Grade Reading Level: Grades 7-9

Summary: This book is about 16 year old Hattie Brooks who is an orphan living with her aunt and uncle in Iowa in 1918. She inherits a homestead in Montana and travels on her own to claim it. It is the middle of winter and she must learn to survive alone in harsh conditions and determine how she will fence the homestead and cultivate a crop so she can keep it. She has less than a year to accomplish this. This book also confronts the prejudice against her closest neighbor, a German American farming his own homestead during World War I. When you are reading this book you feel like you are right there with Hattie. It is a very personal account and it includes letters she writes to her home newspaper and to her best friend who is in Europe fighting World War I.

Why I started this book:

My favorite books are the Newberry Award winners. I have a goal of reading all of them and I have quite a few to go. This is a Newberry winner.

Likes:

When you are reading this book you feel like you are right there with Hattie. It is a very personal account and it includes letters she writes to her home newspaper and to her best friend who is in Europe fighting World War I.
It is based on the true account of the author's great-grandmother. I found her courage amazing, not only in facing dangers and harsh conditions but in standing up for what she knew was right and being a true and loyal friend.

Buy: Hattie Big Sky

Rating: 5 treasure chests.