Hattie Big Sky

The Newberry Honor book I chose to read was Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. This book was of especial interest to me because my mother bought it for me last summer when she went to a book talk by various young adult writers and had it signed by the author. My mother has been writing a children’s book for the last couple of years, and she has known that I have always wanted to write books myself someday.
Hattie Big Sky is about an orphan girl who inherits some land in Montana during WWI and has to homestead it within a year. The book deals with her struggles as an orphan and a girl coming into womanhood, homesteading a claim on her own, and issues people around her face regarding the war.
The most impressive thing about the novel is how many little details about WWI and the homesteading trend in the west during the early 1900s are used. This time period seems to be left out a lot in historical fiction; I not only enjoyed the book but learned a lot! The part about storekeepers calling cabbage liberty cabbage reminded me of when we called French fries freedom fries. I had no idea Germans were persecuted like that during this time period. I had a German great-grandfather who preached at a Lutheran church in the West too, similar to that in the story. When I told my fiancé about the novel, he said that is why his grandfather’s family moved to Mexico when he was a small boy, because of German persecution in the States.
The author also uses colorful language-the descriptive and unique verbs make the story entertaining and give us insight into Hattie’s colorful and grown-up yet childlike personality, and the words are just about right as far as challenging levels go.
The novel is also believable-the author pains a realistic view of life on the prairie and some true tragedies happen-the ending isn’t depressing, but not everything works out just right. There is a touch of romance with Hattie and her seemingly nice neighbor who ends up causing a great deal of trouble, and her pen pal who is at war, but not enough to overshadow the rest of the novel.
Hattie faces some hard choices that teens struggle with today-liking someone who makes you feel good but doesn’t treat others right, being friends with people who others see as different, and standing up for the right thing, even when you may have a lot to lose. I think that Hattie Big Sky would be an excellent choice for most middle school and some high school girls, and maybe a few boys. It would be a great compliment to a WWI unit.

Vocab words:
• Kaiser-p.1
• Contemptible-p.9
• Muddle-p. 14
• Honyocker-p. 16
• Oration-p. 17
• Valise-p. 21
• Sod house-p. 39
• Coulee-p. 56
• Husbandry-p. 65
• Sedition-p. 77
• Camphor-p.79
• Cauterwauling-p.109
• Conscripted-p.117
• Burgeoning-p.140
• Homily-p.147
• Chintz-p. 181
• Shocks-p.237