Customer Reviews

Ellen Elizabeth Hawkins: Texas 1886 (American Diaries)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ellen is a 12 year old girl growing up on a ranch in Texas. Her Father is gone and her Grandpa is hurt. Everything seems to be going wrong, the windmill is broken and the herd is thirsty. But that doesn't stop Ellen! She proves herself a true rancher by saving the day!

Ellen Elizabeth Hawkins lives on a ranch in 1886 Texas. She wants to be a cattle rancher when she grows up but her father and grandfather don't think that a girl can run a ranch. When her father is away during a drought and her grandfather is hurt Ellen proves herself to her father and grandfather.

This is a great story about a girl in the old west, Texas. She's a strong, confident girl. She thinks she can be a rancher when she grows up, and the story is about how she proves herself to everyone around her. They don't think a girl can be a "cowboy". Hah!

Living in Texas in the 1880s, motherless twelve-year-old Ellen longs to be a rancher, but her father discourages her because she is a girl. Ellen herself is a dissapointment to her father - he wishes for a son that can help him out more around the ranch. When her father goes away during a drought, Ellen's first true challenge comes. The windmill is broken, the valuable herd is scattered, and her grandfather is injured. Ellen must find the stock, bring them to water, and help her grandfather. Can she accomplish all these tasks and make her father proud of her? A good historical novel with a strong main character.

It was that boring! I usually don't even give up on books, but this one was an exception. Ellen was one of those classic tomboys who just wants to like her daddy and grandpa. How original is that. She just happens to also live on a ranch where she just acts like the real cowboy. Wow. I'm not saying that Ellen couldn't be that way, but she could of been less one-dimensional (just like many of the other characters in SURVIVAL! and American Diaries, the latter not as much). Her Grandpa gets hurt so she has to think up some crazy plan using all these ranch equipment pieces that people from the nineties could really care less about. The description where she was trying to move her grandpa (about five million chapters long) drove me so crazy I just had to stop. Try reading one of the first American Diaries books, they have more on the character of the person and less historical mumbo jumbo (and don't get me wrong, I love history!)