3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Historical fiction, December 31, 2008
This review is from: The Land of Curiosities (Book 1): Adventures in Yellowstone, 1871-1872 (Ecoseekers Collection) (Hardcover)
The story chronicles the adventures of James Clifton, who has come to Bozeman, Montana with his Mom, Mattie, and his sister Alice. They have arrived in a wagon train of pioneers from New York. They meet up with Reverend Lawson, James' step-father, in Bozeman, and stay at a hotel in town until they are able to build a house of their own.
James' sister is not well. Although her illness is never clearly named, the description is that of a chronic cough. Bozeman is a "few sleeps" from the newly-named Yellowstone National Park. Explorers and adventurers keep discovering its many "curiosities," like the hot springs. James reads in a local paper that "taking the waters" of the springs can heal many an ailment. He talks his family into taking a trip to the park so his sister can bathe in the sulfur springs and hopefully be healed of her condition.
Of course, things don't go as planned. James gets embroiled in a plot by Billy Knuckles and his son, Red, to kill the buffalo and disrupt the settling of the West. His sister, Alice, gets lost while they're at the springs. Troubles just seem to pile up.
Packed with both historical information and Yellowstone trivia, as well as lots of adventures, it makes for an interesting read. However, it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. First of all, what happened to Alice? She has been lost in the woods and no one has been able to find her. Does the writer leave the ending open intentionally to leave room for another book?
Speaking of Alice, although the family makes the trip to Yellowstone specifically for Alice to take advantage of the hot springs, there is hardly any mention of her doing so once they get there.
Also, the sequence of events gets a bit confusing at times. For instance, on the way to Yellowstone, the narrator tells how they passed the time by sometimes going fishing. In this paragraph, it says: "One afternoon, Tom caught fourteen fish in a quarter of an hour!" But the very next paragraph begins with the words: "On the second day..." That's a bit odd and a bit confusing.
And, although I enjoyed reading the story, I think the author over-used the term "curiosities" in the narrative. Yes, the book is called, "The Land of Curiosities," but every time something new was discovered, it was labeled a "curiosity," especially towards the end of the book. It just got a bit tiresome. 3 stars. (I wish I could give it 3 ½ stars, but I can't do that on Amazon and I don't think it deserves a full 4 stars, either.)
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting adventure with an eco conscience, January 15, 2008
This review is from: The Land of Curiosities (Book 1): Adventures in Yellowstone, 1871-1872 (Ecoseekers Collection) (Hardcover)
If you or your kids enjoy Harry Potter, the American Girl series, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Old West, Indians/Native Americans, animals, the environment, exciting adventures or just plain good story telling, then buy this book. It is a tale of two siblings who find themselves fatherless at the end of the civil war and move with their mom out west to Montana to start a new life. The trials of their personal lives become entangled with the rarely (if ever) told wild west adventure of the founding of Yellowstone, the world's first national park and as the book's wonderful afterword points out, a major milestone in environmental history. It is a "novel" approach to environmental sensitivity without any preachiness, even tho their step dad is a minister! Plus there is a web site to go to for further exploration. Can't wait for the next one to find out what happens to Alice.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For teachers, parents and kids!, December 28, 2007
This review is from: The Land of Curiosities (Book 1): Adventures in Yellowstone, 1871-1872 (Ecoseekers Collection) (Hardcover)
As a 7th grade teacher, I was thrilled to add The Land of Curiousities to my classroom library. Not only is this an exciting adventure story, it is a new historical fiction genre. This is the first historical fiction novel I have found that addresses environmental history. I highly suggest checking it out for a fun read with your own children or for a teachers' unit on reconstruction and the development of the west. Also, there is an incredible real history section in the back which is an excellent teaching aid.
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