Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Larson, Kirby. c2006. HATTIE BIG SKY. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 9780385733137

SUMMARY:
This book is about a 16 year old girl named Hattie Brooks. Hattie is an orphan l who lives with her aunt and uncle in Iowa in 1918. She inherits a homestead in Montana and travels on her own to claim the land. It is winter time and she has to learn to survive alone in bad conditions and try to figure out how she will build a fence on the homestead and grow crops so she can keep the land. She has less than a year to complete the task. This book also confronts the prejudice agains her neighbor, a German American farming his own land during World War I. When reading the book, it makes you feel as if you are right there with Hattie. The book includes letters that Hattie writes to her best friend who is in Europe fighting in the war.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
This is a heart warming Newberry Honor Book that tells of the historcial period during World War I. When you read the book, you feel as if you are right there with Hattie. This makes the book feel authentic as Larson uses wit to describe the struggles and joy of a common homesteader during World War 1. This historical novel portrays as a young woman struggling and facing terrible odds as she tries to build her own homestead. The effective way the author incorporates articles Hattie wrote for a newspaper and letters she wrote to a friend adds to the credibility and historic value of the book.

AWARDS/REVIEW EXCERPTS:
JOHN NEWBERRY MEDAL, 2007 Honor Book, United States
YALSA BEST BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS, 2007 ALA, United States
TOP 10 WOMEN'S HISTORY BOOKS FOR YOUTH , 2007 BOOKLIST, United States
*BOOKLIST "Writing in figurative language that draws on nature and domestic detail to infuse her story with the sounds, smells, and sights of the prairie, she creates a richly textured novel full of memorable characters."
*CHILDREN'S LITERATURE "This well-researched and gripping novel firmly places its lively heroine in loneliness and debt on her rugged uncle's land claim."

CONNECTION:
Use this book to introduce to discuss the concept of settling the frontier and homesteading. Discuss the struggles of pioneer life.