Bachelor Girl (Little House the Rose Years) [Hardcover]

Roger Lea MacBride (Author), Dan Andreasen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999 | Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Little House the Rose Years

In this eighth and final book of the Rose Years series, Rose has become an independent young woman. She leaves Rocky Ridge Farm, first for Kansas City to learn how to be a telegrapher, then for San Francisco. Her dream is to work for a year or two, save a little money, and then marry Paul Cooley, her childhood sweetheart. But the big city has all sorts of surprises in store for Rose, and she finds that she's destined to travel a road she never even imagined.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A worthy continuation of [the Little House] series." -- -- School Library Journal

"Wilder fans will eagerly absorb this latest offering, and a few of the chapters will make terrific read-alouds." -- -- ALA Booklist

About the Author

Roger Lea MacBride, a close friend of Rose Wilder Lane's, was the author of the Rose Years novels.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 243 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books; 1st edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060277556
• ISBN-13: 978-0060277550
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #760,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bachelor Girl, March 16, 2005

By 

Rose fan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bachelor Girl (Little House) (Paperback)

As true Laura and/or Rose fans know, "Bachelor Girl" is simply a redress of Roger MacBride's 1977 "biography" of Rose Wilder Lane, which in turn was a rip-off of Roses's 1919 'semi' autobiographical novel, "Diverging Roads".

I feel this was a poor finish to the "Rose Years" series. Given that the MacBride family inherited the hugely successful and profitable "Little House" franchise from Rose, it's a shame that they've passed off this fictional account not once, but TWICE, as a true depiction of Rose's life as a young woman.

While the essentials and facts are mostly true, anyone who has read or researched Rose's life knows that Rose and Paul Cooley were never "engaged". And Gilette Lane was not the "dashing older man" portrayed in the books. In fact, he was one year younger than Rose! Evidence supports that they met while Rose was working in Kansas City and her subsequent move to San Francisco was likely to follow him there, marrying him the next year, BEFORE they sold real estate together.

My disgust with this book really lies in the fact that the owners of the Little House franchise (the MacBride heirs) should have shown more respect for both Rose and the fans of the series and ended the Rose years with a more accurate and honest portrayal of their benefactress.

The spunky characterization of Rose from the earlier books is gone here, and we're left feeling concerned about her choices and future. Nice example to set for girls of today who've read this series from the beginning!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not A Good Reflection of "Little House" Values, April 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Bachelor Girl (Little House) (Paperback)

I have been disappointed with the entire Rose series, but particularly this book. I've been reading the series along with my daughter, but I doubt if either of us would bother if we weren't looking for answers to 'what happened next' to Laura and Almanzo. If this is a true picture of Rose's life and personality, then I am very sorry for her. She spends most of her time bored, discontented and depressed; she sees her parents as hopelessly outdated and old-fashioned; she chooses, time and again, to do things her parents disapprove of, then does not seem to learn from the misery those choices cause to herself and others.

I find little of the independent spirit of Laura in this book. For example, upon returning home after a school year in New Orleans where she became interested in social issues, Rose laments that her peers in Mansfield seem to care nothing about those issues. But Rose does nothing to educate the others or even express her newfound views. After moving to Kansas City (to attend a telegraph course at her parents' expense, which she applied for in secret), Rose finds a decent room to live in, only to abandon it meekly when an overbearing acquaintance of her mother's demands that she must move. When she confronts her boss, asking that he make good on his promise to give her a raise, she dissolves into tears and leaves the office when he refuses. Spunky? Independent? I don't see it.

She moves to San Francisco, where she moves in with the first friendly girl who speaks to her, and soon joins a 'fast' life of driving, dancing, and drinking till all hours of the morning. Though MacBride throws in a few token statements of Rose's supposed better sense, Rose's actions speak the loudest. "This life...., wasn't for her, she knew. But it would do until she got a better idea." The problem is, she never gets a better idea.

Even the ending, with its promise of a new start for Rose, falls upon her by circumstance, not by any action or gumption of her own.

Though written in easy-to-read format, the subject matter of this book is adult in nature and will leave younger readers far behind. The characters and motivations are thin. I think readers could find far better descriptions of bachelor-girl life in San Francisco in this period in history than this disappointing effort.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not an Original Work, May 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Bachelor Girl (Little House) (Paperback)

This is an indirect copy of a fictional serial Rose wrote around 1918-1920: "Diverging Roads." It was republished by Roger Lea MacBride as "Rose Wilder Lane: Her Story," back in the 1970's. Unfortunately, it WASN'T her story: after giving the book that misleading title, MacBride explains in the introduction that many details were changed from Rose's real life. I compare this pitiful effort to William Holtz's staggering portrayal of Rose, and it is obvious which of these two men had more scholarly respect for Rose Wilder Lane. Even though I do not agree with many of Mr. Holtz's conclusions about Rose and her relationship with her mother, his work is fully researched, the information sound. The same cannot possibly be said about MacBride's attempts to pass off fiction as fact.

In the serial, here's what eventually happened to Helen (Rose's character): she doesn't marry, but joins forces with other women who are writers/journalists, and realizes that she wants a life of freedom and independence. That part was never published by MacBride, and I have often wondered why that was so. I personally don't understand why the "Rocky Ridge" series ended in such an adult fashion. MacBride could have concluded with Rose traveling to Kansas City to pursue a new career; Rose ended her book "Old Home Town" that way, with her character Ernestine (a young Rose in disguise) going off to business college to learn happily ever after. But no, it is much easier to copy Rose's original text than it is to come up with your own. Yes, I realize MacBride may have already passed on by the time this volume was approached, but anyone with background information on Rose and half an imagination could have finished the series with more success. Actually, that goes for the whole set of books, not just this one.