Review #14: Hattie Big Sky

Review:  Hattie Big Sky

Bibliography

Larson, Kirby.  2006.  HATTIE BIG SKY.  New York:  Delacorte Press.  ISBN 9780385903325

Summary

During World War I sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks inherits an uncle’s homesteading farm in Montana and tries to prove herself as a homesteader.  As she faces the challenges of trying to build a viable farm she forms close relationships with neighbors and deals with ethnic tensions stemming from the wartime climate of suspicion.

Analysis

Inspired by the true story of the author’s own great-grandmother’s attempts to homestead in Montana, the narrative is not actually based on a particular individual’s recollections.  It is, however, clearly carefully researched from numerous sources and gives a strong sense of what life was like in that time and place.  In particular it affords a detailed picture of the challenges that homesteaders and their communities faced on the Great Plains in the late pioneer era.

Most of the principal characters are stock figures—kindly, eccentric neighbors, a ruthless rancher, a farm wife facing childbirth in a harsh environment—familiar to anyone with any experience of the long-established pioneer family genre.  A well-meant effort to deal with the harassment often faced by German-Americans during the war makes its point well enough, but never really rises above the level of caricature.  It is at least handled with restraint.

Overall this is a well-written story and is sure to please readers interested in the genre.

Review Excerpts

“Larson’s vivid descriptions of the harshness of the work and the extreme climates, and the strength that comes from true friendship, create a masterful picture of the homesteading experience and the people who persevered.”  School Library Journal

“This fine offering may well inspire readers to find out more about their own family histories.”  Kirkus

Connections

Have the class imagine that they are a group of homesteaders on their way to settle claims.  What sorts of things will they need to take with them?  What things will they have to do when they get there?  What kinds of challenges will they face?

Other books on pioneering and pioneer life:

Josephson, Judith Pinkerton.  GROWING UP IN PIONEER AMERICA, 1800 TO 1890.  ISBN 0822506599

King, David C.  PIONEER DAYS:  REDISCOVER THE PAST WITH FUN PROJECTS, GAMES, ACTIVITIES, AND RECIPES.  ISBN 0471161691

Steele, Christy.  PIONEER LIFE IN THE AMERICAN WEST.  ISBN 0836857909