Lotta's Progress (An Avon Camelot Book) [Paperback]

Norma Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Series: An Avon Camelot Book

Lotta Muller's family has come to America from Germany, dreaming of a life of opportunity but finding only cruel disappointment in 19th-century immigrant Boston. None of them speaks English and, with Lotta's father out of work, they fall on hard times. When Lotta becomes friends with Louisa May Alcott, they are rescued by the Alcott family and, through the Alcotts, Lotta discovers a new world of books, ideas, and the possibility that she can live her dream.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this historical novel set in 1838, Lotta, a German immigrant girl, and her family have trouble adjusting to their new life in America, until she befriends Louisa May Alcott. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7. Carlotta Muller, 12, and her family immigrate to Boston from Germany in the late 1840s. There, they encounter language barriers, unjust arrest, destruction of their home by fire, ethnic bigotry, poverty, and illiteracy. They are befriended by the Alcott family, including Louisa May (Louy). Friendship and support also come from the Callaghans, recent Irish immigrants and neighbors of the Mullers. A few stereotypes aside ("Mither o' God!") and a little melodrama ("sitting bolt upright, coughing, her eyes wells of terror"), the book's sympathetic characters boost reader involvement. The interaction between Lotta and Louy, two temperamentally similar characters with dissimilar backgrounds, reveals the personalities of the two girls on both intellectual and emotional levels. The intrusion of the Alcotts into the story is a bit jarring as, deus ex machina-like, they rescue the Mullers from crisis after crisis. Johnston provides a note that clearly separates the story's factual content from the fictional, and connects the book's characters to Alcott family members and characters in Little Women. Lotta's Progress lacks the complexity of Avi's "Beyond the Western Sea" books (Orchard, 1996), but is more substantial and rewarding than Kathleen Kudlinski's Shannon (Aladdin, 1997).?Liza Bliss, Worcester Public Library, MA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380789167
• ISBN-13: 978-0380789160
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,265,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Historical Fiction Book Ever, January 26, 2001

By 

"evanf505" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lotta's Progress (An Avon Camelot Book) (Paperback)

TIME PERIOD OF BOOK: 1790-1860. BOOK TITLE: Lotta's Progress. AUTHOR NAME: Norma Johnston. MY SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK: Norma Johnston's novel, Lotta's Progress, is set back in the early 1800s, and deals with a family of Germans who immigrated to America. They immigrated to America in hopes of a better life, and, of course, a friend had promised the father of the family a job. However, when they reach America, the friend was nowhere to be found, as well as the job. Not only this, but now the family is in worse poverty than before. In addition, seeing that none of them can speak English, except for the small vocabulary Lotta picked up on the voyage, it made it extremely hard to communicate. This may have been the reason that Lotta and her brothers and sisters were not welcome at school. Furthermore, their new house has the luxury of having eight immigrant families, none of which speak German, all packed in together, and living with each other. Also, this will not be a good thing for the mother of the family, who is expecting a baby. Despite all of this, Lotta Muller, the thirteen-year-old daughter, who is the oldest daughter, ends up assisting the family to a better life. It all starts when she finds and asks for the help of a social worker, Mrs. Bronson Alcott, to be exact. Mrs. Alcott greatly helps the family in many ways. She helps Karl, the oldest son, get a job, so he can provide the family with food. She also donates the Mullers many shirts and shorts, and a large amount of fabric so that they can make their own clothes. At this point, the "American dream" is beginning to come true, considering that the father has finally gotten a job, Karl has a job at the market, and Mrs. Alcott and her daughters help Lotta get a job as a seamstress. The Mullers are also moving to a new, much better house, all thanks to the Alcotts. Thus, with the help of the Alcotts, the dream is almost reality. MY REVIEW: My own review and opinion of this book, Lotta's Progress, is very good. I feel this way because the clothes that they apparently wore, for example, matched the style of the time period perfectly. Another aspect about this book, of how it is historically correct, is how the market in the book was run. For instance, the market in the book was ran outside, each different type of food had its own stall, there were apprentices who helped their masters, and the food that the market sold was exactly like the food that would be sold in a real market at that time. As a result, the book's market was just like a real market at that time. Besides that, the book was very exciting, and constantly kept me thinking of what would happen next. THE SUGGESTED USES FOR HISTORY AND SUGGESTED SECTION OF BOOK THAT I RECOMMEND BE READ ALOUD: Additionally, this book obviously deals with immigration, in the early 1800s, from countries such as Germany and Europe to America. Therefore, to someone interested in immigration, which is a major event that has occurred many times in history, should definitely read this book. Reading this book would help someone learn all about how immigration worked in the 19th century, and about the harsh conditions in the places that people immigrated to. As a matter of fact, a chapter that I suggest be read aloud to a class, for example, that displays some of these harsh conditions and hardships, such as getting into school, is most of chapter one. It shows how hard it would be to get into a school, and how poor they were. This would give someone a good idea of what it was like back then for most immigrants. SOME SIMILAR ADOLESCENT LITERATURE BOOKS BY SUBJECT, BOOKS IN THIS TIME PERIOD IN THE WEST SHORE MEDIA CENTER, AND OTHER SUGGESTED BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY THIS AUTHOR ARE: Last, if you read this book and like it, I have compiled a list of similar adolescent literature books with the same basic subject as Lotta's Progress. These books are The Vision of Emma Blau, What Remains, My Antonia, Dreamland, and Letters from Rifka. Of these books, two of them can be found in the media center of West Shore Jr./Sr. High school, which is located in Brevard, Florida. These books are My Antonia and Letters from Rifka. Last, I have some other suggested books. However, Norma Johnston wrote all of these ones. If you did not know, Lotta's Progress is not Norma Johnston's only book. She has actually written over 70 books. I have narrowed them down to five though. These books are Over Jordan, The Image Game, The Dragon's eye, The Delphic Choice, and Gabriel's Girl. If you ask me, these are all great books, which I strongly recommend be read by everyone.