Customer Reviews

Hattie Big Sky

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Imagine that you're a children's librarian surrounded by piles and piles of books for kids, all published in the year 2006. How do you choose amongst your various titles to figure out what to read next? Do you pluck up the books with the shiny foil covers and catchy titles? Do you zero in on the 400+ page titles that all have "Book One" or "First In the [blank] Trilogy" somewhere on the cover? Do you stick only to those books written by authors you've loved time and again? For me, the decision to sit down and read, "Hattie Big Sky" was helped immensely by this first sentence on the authorial bookflap: "Thanks to her eighth-grade teacher, Kirby Larson maintained a healthy lack of interest in history until she heard a snippet of a story about her great-grandmother's homesteading by herself in eastern Montana." And we're off! As someone who also couldn't have cared less about history and historical fiction for most of her natural born life, Larson's declaration right from the start that history was never her bag came as quite the wake-up call. Plus the result of her newfound interest in history is this remarkable little book recounting a single girl's wish to go out into the world and prove herself to others. You couldn't have it any other way.

It's December in 1917. American involvement in WWI is in full swing and Hattie Brooks has just found herself the proud new owner 320 acres of land on a homestead claim in Montana. Left to her by a hitherto unknown uncle, this unexpected inheritance is just the thing Hattie's been looking for. Orphaned when she was young, the girl has bounced from family member to family member so often that she feels a little like Hattie Here-and-There. Now, with a big beautiful piece of land entirely her own she feels like she's Hattie Big Sky. Of course there's fence to put down, wheat and flax to plant and harvest, neighbors to befriend (or avoid), and more work than this sixteen-year-old young lady could ever have dreamed of. Still, who would have thought that here on the prairie you could find just as much adventure, true friendship, and heartbreak as anywhere else on the globe.

Part of what Lason does so well in this book is create truly lovable and believable characters. Hattie befriends a whole host of different people on her claim and each one feels very real and, with the exception of the villains (and there are some) very lovable. The woman Hattie grows closest to, Perilee Mueller, talks like someone your mother might be best friends with. She's down home and comfy and says things like, "Sugar, you are a stitch." May we all find our own Perilees somewhere. And the nice thing about the book's bad guy, the handsome Traft Martin, is that he's not 100% out-and-out evil. Sure, he's willing to pick on Perilee's German-born husband because of the war, but he has his own personala demons and it's great that the author lets you see that. No moustache twirling found here.

I also liked that I couldn't necessarily predict where the book was going. Every once in a while I'd catch myself saying something like, "Okay. Now we're going to get the scene where there's a mob" or "Now we're going to come to the scene where someone gets shot or arrested" and it just wouldn't happen. Larson refuses to allow you to predict the novel's flow, and I respect that. I do wish that we had learned a little more about Hattie's supposedly scoundrelish Uncle Chester. He appears in this book like a kind of fairy godmother (or deus ex machina), and we never learn much about him. He's so mysterious he almost feels like a plot convenience. It would have been cool to flesh him out a little bit, or maybe show that he got the claim through questionable methods. Then again, maybe that would have taken the focus off of the story at large, so who knows? It's distinctly hard to say.

So who would you say that this book is for? On the bookflap, Delacorte has come to the conclusion that the perfect reading age for "Hatte Big Sky" is "12 and up". Yet I can see historical fiction loving ten and eleven-year-olds also truly getting into Hattie's tale. I mean, isn't this one of the coolest ideas? You strike out into the great big world, just you and your cat, to make a living. You're young and you tend your homestead and deal with nature one-on-one. And you have your own land! And cow. And horse. And chickens. For some of us, this is the ultimate fantasy of living in a harsh world. For others, this is the ultimate fantasy of snuggling down to a cup of hot cocoa as you read about someone living in a harsh world. It's win win. Some teens will definitely adore it, but there's nothing here inappropriate for the younger set as well. Just make certain they don't mind reading about long passages that describe what it really means to work a homestead. Add in the additional recipes and a Further Reading section of books and websites and you've a better researched book than a lot of the non-fiction coming out today.

There are historical fiction lovers out there, and they'll come in droves to appreciate "Hattie Big Sky", should they happen to hear about it. So tell them. In a way, it's kind of in the same vein as "Julie of the Wolves" and "Island of the Blue Dolphins" in that it's a single girl making her way in a harsh world and growing to love the struggle. A fine and truly enjoyable read.

To me, the main criteria for a good book is a cast of great characters, and this book definitely has that. Hattie is a very mature 16-year-old. She is an orphan who has been raised by first one relative and then another, and now she finds that she has inherited a homestead from an uncle that she never really knew. Her best friend has just joined the army to go fight the Kaiser in Germany at the outbreak of World War I. Hattie boards a train with her cat, Mr. Whiskers, to claim her new home in Montana.

When she arrives, she discovers that she will be required to finish "proving up" on the homestead...build an enormous amount of fence, and plant eighty of the three-hundred-and-twenty acres in wheat and flax, and she only has eight months left to accomplish this. The house is a one-room cabin that is barely habitable, and winter has Montana in its grip. Her livestock consists of a very congenial horse, and a contentious cow.

Hattie is a very resourceful girl, but life is difficult. Most of her new neighbors become fast friends, but some desperately want to claim her land for their own. Her dear friends, the Mullers, suffer bad treatment because of their German heritage and the War.

This is a fast-paced story of adventure with friendship, heartbreak, and joy. The believable characters will remain with you long after you have read the book, and the handsome villain isn't all bad. The suspense in this very entertaining book builds to a surprising climax that I didn't anticipate. Larson adds a couple of interesting-looking recipes in the back of the book that I'm anxious to try out, along with a bibliography of other great reading about the American West and homesteading.

Reviewed by: Grandma Bev

Hattie Big Sky is purportedly a story about a teen having the courage to leave a safe, if unpleasant, home in Iowa to `prove up' (work) her deceased uncle's claim in Montana; hence, the `Big Sky' of the title. The story sounds simple. It takes courage in 1914 or any time for a young girl of only sixteen years to travel to a completely strange country (read, Montana) many miles from anyone or anything she has ever known in order to work really hard on the land by building fences and plowing and planting the land, not to speak of simply living in a very sketchy shack without electricity, running water, a bathroom, or the skills to do much of anything. This is the plot.

What happens to that plot, and the way the story itself becomes secondary to the question, still a burning one in 2007, of prejudice, is so well written into the fabric of the narrative that it is only upon completion of the book that you realize the real intent of the author. The much more important and interesting story of how Hattie begins to see and comprehend the vile nature of prejudice takes over the story entirely. The story of the day-to-day doings of Hattie and her neighbors, from escaping a herd of wild horses to the mundane building of a fence and tending of chickens, to a dance, a Sunday church meeting, and the plowing of the field, all underlie the vitriolic passages of the nature of hatred unbounded by knowledge or understanding. The story of the prejudice rockets along on these doings, overriding them with its life-threatening urgency. The one time Hattie almost goes over to the dark side is so well written that the reader is yelling "No! Don't think that way! You can't believe him! He (Traft) is ignorant and you can't make him understand!"

The author enchants us with a tale of a young girl's courage, and slips in a very mature lesson on evil. Would that more books like this could be written by more authors as knowledgeable as Kirby Larson. She has done her research. She has made of a simple tale of courage in one arena a tale of courage in life, and shown a path of understanding to follow for anyone. She has made this accessible to young people in "Hattie Big Sky". Amazing! I would recommend this as a read for anyone from 10 to 80.

"Hattie Big Sky" is highly recommended for children ages 10 and up.

Hattie Brooks has moved from relative to ever-more-distant relative most of her young life. When she is sixteen years old, she reaches the end of her line with Aunt Ivy and Uncle Holt (he's a distant cousin). Or so she thinks. Just as Aunt Ivy is about to send her off to work as a maid, Hattie Brooks receives a letter informing her that her mother's brother left her a land claim in Montana. She has one year to work the land, make it profitable, fence it off, pay her taxes and it will be hers. Hattie takes her chances and the train out West.

Hattie arrives to Wolf Point, Montana where she is met by Perilee and Karl Mueller, her homesteading neighbors, and their three children, Chase, Mattie, and Fern. They help her settle in her Uncle's "house," and show her how to survive the winter and care for the horse and cantankerous cow. Even the children know more than Hattie: Chase has to detach Hattie from the well pump on her very first day. Though life is hard, Hattie is up to the challenge and works to survive on her own.

Kirby Lawson has created a wonderful character in Hattie. She's a tough girl, willing to work to make it on her own. But, Hattie is more than just determination--she's also kind and compassionate without being silly or sentimental. In 1917 Montana, anti-German sentiment is strong, yet Hattie stands up to her wild Montana neighbors and supports her friend Karl Mueller when he's attacked, both physically and verbally, for being German-born. Even Hattie's feelings for her school friend, Charlie, who is away at the front, are true to character:

"So maybe I did spend a night now and then dreaming silly girl dreams about him, even though everyone knew he was sweet on Mildred. My bounce-around life had taught me dreams were dangerous things--they look solid in your mind, but you just try to reach for them. It's like gathering clouds."

"Hattie Big Sky," just as its narrator, is a brilliant, straightforward novel. Author Kirby Larson pulls no punches: death is ever present in the novel, as it was in 1917, and friends are essential to survival. I appreciated "Hattie Big Sky" for its complex ending as well. Hattie, in some ways, fails in her endeavor. (I won't spoil the book for you by mentioning how.) In other ways, Hattie finds family, love, and self-sufficiency.

I love historical fiction, and this is one of the best books I have read in a while. I couldn't put it down and felt connected with the characters. It is about a simple 16-year-old girl who has moved around from relative to relative ever since her parents died. Then one day she gets a letter with her Uncle's will that he left her his claim in Montana. Hattie goes along with the journey and meets very exciting people along the way , dealing with troubles of proving up her claim and being friends with a German in WWI. This is a great book and anyone who loves historical fiction will love this book.

In 1918, Hattie Brooks receives word that an uncle she's never known has passed away and left his homestead in Montana to her. She travels across the country to plant roots in this new place. She is understandably hesitant when she first realizes how much work she has to do to "prove up" her land, but she tackles the many jobs with determination and her own two hands. Those hands also craft letters to her friend Charlie, who is fighting in France, and articles for the newspaper. She befriends a lovable family and others in town as she fights to stake her claim.

This memorable pioneer tale is perfect for fans of Little House, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women. Though shelved in teen fiction, this heartwarming story is suitable for kids of all ages. Adults will love it too, especially those who love turn-of-the-century historical fiction and WWI homefront stories. This is the kind of book which could be shelved in three different areas of the library or bookstore and find a following in each place.

I highly recommend Hattie Big Sky, especially to families with children of various ages. Hattie is an admirable leading lady with a great head on her shoulders, unflagging determination, and a big pocketful of hope.

It's refreshing to read an elementary/middle school appropriate book (award winning or otherwise) that does NOT rely on shock value tactics such as inappropriate language or behavior. Just proves that the opening lines or paragraphs of a novel do not have to be filled with swear words or questionable words or acts worthy of a much older audience. Thank you.

Based on the cover art and publisher's own recommendation, there seems to be little, at least initially, that separates this book from the cascade of quality historical fiction that has been released for teens and pre-teens over the last few years. But the old adage, admittedly quite corny in this context, holds true: "Never judge a book by its cover". Within the dust jacket claiming suitability for readers "12 and up", lies a story of struggle and perseverance that readers of any age can enjoy. Hattie, the titular main character, is written with such depth and feeling that I found myself swept up in the story to the degree that I finished the book in only two sittings! And while the universal themes in "Hattie Big Sky" are well-placed, the wave of xenophobia that washes Hattie's community towards German settlers during World War I seems particularly relevent in today's world. A story that is both very well written and enjoyable, and also urges us to judge our neighbors by what they do, not where they're from, gets my hearty recommendation any day.

This book is great for both young teens and adults alike. The plot is interesting and keeps you engaged the whole way through. However, I was disappointed in the ending, which is why I gave it only four stars.

Growing up in Montana I decided to read this book based both on the title and it's award status. I thoroughly enjoyed this book especially learning about homesteaders during World War I. I tended to think of homesteaders in the 1800's not the early 1900's. It's such an interesting time when your neighbor might have a horse or a car for transportation. This book has a nice sense of community and hope during challenging times.