Middle Grade Audiobook Review: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie

 

Title: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell, 1847.  (Series: Dear America)

Author: Kristiana Gregory. Read by Stina Nielsen. Introduction and historical notes read by Barbara Rosenblat

Publisher: Live Oak Media, 2006. Original by Scholastic, 1997, 140 pages 

Summary: 

Written as the diary of 13-year-old Hattie, the book recounts her family's journey across the continent on the Oregon Trail. Though it's fun at first, the book doesn't shy away from the realities of death, disease, and hardship along the way. Hattie records it all, until the family arrives in Oregon. An epilogue tells us what becomes of the major characters.

Review:

As always with this series, the book is written as though it was an actual diary and the epilogue treats the characters as though they were real. I enjoy that, but am also always a little uncomfortable with it--I do worry that young readers might be confused by the blurring of fiction and non-fiction. I appreciate that newer editions also include the author's name on the cover, as it also always bothered me that the series tended to erase the author--an odd move, given that many of the books are written by stars of middle grade fiction! That said, the series offers some great windows into history, and, as noted, the books are often written by excellent writers who are very diligent with their research. I have read only a few that I thought weren't up to snuff.

This is one of the good ones. I have studied the period, and real diaries of women and children crossing the prairies, enough to know that the author has the feel of it right. There are some grim portions, and that is as it should be. No wagon train made it across the Oregon Trail without some disasters and deaths (though there might have been a few more here than the average, I'd bet you could find plenty of wagon trains that suffered worse). 

One fascinating element of every account of the Oregon Trail (or any of the other westward trails) is the way in which the characters gradually shed their baggage, literal and figurative. By the end, in this case, they have only what they can carry, and that which was vital when they left home often seems pointless now.

Recommendation:

The reading level of the book would suggest readers from about 8 up, but given the nature of the journey, I might suggest 9 or 10. 

Full Disclosure: I borrowed an electronic copy of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie from my library, and received nothing from the author or the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

Middle Grade Review: Voyage on the Great Titanic

Bet you thought I wouldn't get my Wednesday review out!

Today's book is another entry in a really solid series, the "Dear America Diaries," historical fiction presented as the diaries of young girls living through significant events and periods. I want to say that I do like the look and feel of the hardback editions of these books which are carried by our library. The covers carry an image meant to be the girl in question, superimposed on a historical photo. The size is that of many diaries, and feels just right in the hand!

Title: Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady
Author: Ellen Emerson White
Publisher: Scholastic, 1998, 204 pages

Summary: 
Margaret Ann Brady, age 13, is living in an orphanage in London and dreaming of the day when her older brother will earn enough to bring her to America to join him. She gets her lucky chance when she is selected as companion for a wealthy American woman who must cross the Atlantic without her husband and doesn't wish to do so alone. Their crossing will be the maiden voyage of the biggest liner ever, the RMS Titanic.

Review:
The first thing to strike me about this book (and it's not a criticism, just an observation given the series) is that it is really an English story, not an American one.  Margaret is of Irish descent and London upbringing, and while she is eager to get to America, she is also a keen and at times critical observer of her American patroness and her friends. But she is a sympathetic and engaging narrator as well, and the reader will root for her to find her brother and root herself into the American life.

The premise felt a little strained--I had trouble believing that a woman of that class would look for a companion both so young and so lower-class (though the nuns have done their best to give Margaret good manners and educated speech, she is clearly a poor orphan girl). Sadly, it is entirely believable that in 1912 a child would simply be turned over to a random adult with few or no formalities.

In Margaret's case, this is a temporary arrangement that gets her what she really needs, and if her employer is a bit clueless (to put it kindly!), she does get the girl to America. Of course, the focus of the story is the Titanic. First there is the intriguing perspective of a poor girl riding first class--feeling like an imposter but also unashamedly enjoying the luxury. Then there is the disaster, a narrow escape from the sinking ship, and the horror of the hundreds of people freezing and drowning through that night. If Margaret expresses this with a sophistication well beyond her 13 years, we can forgive the author for the sake of the immediacy she brings to that event.

Like all the "Dear America" books, the story is followed by an epilogue that summarizes the life stories of the key characters and a historical overview of the times and, in this case, an examination of the Titanic, with loads of pictures.

Recommendation:
Voyage on the Great Titanic is a worthy addition to the series, and can be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in that disaster (dare I say even by boys?). As always, I appreciated the historical background and found the book a pleasant way to pick up a few more details about the period.

Full Disclosure: I checked Voyage on the Great Titanic out of my library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

###

Read Tuesday isn't over--deals on many books, including mine, continue through the end of the week.

Nor is my Giveaway over! Enter now to win an ebook of Halitor the Hero!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kid Lit Blog Hop: Behind the Masks, by Susan Patron

 

Title: Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy, Bodie, California, 1880.  "Dear America" series.
Author: Susan Patron, narrated by Cassandra Campbell.
Publisher: Scholastic, 2012 (hardcover and audio).
Source:  Library (on-line resources)

Summary:
The story opens with news that Patrick Reddy, Angeline's father, has been killed, but neither the girl nor her mother believe this for a moment.  Angeline concludes that, with her mother ill, it is her job to figure out what her father is up to.  The plot thickens with a vigilante group, a group of anonymous actors, a Chinese girl, and a new friend who has problems of her own, until everything comes out in the end.

Review:
I'm not sure if my review on this is going to be fair or not.  I'll be up-front: though I enjoyed much of the story, as far as I'm concerned the author ruined it with a ghost story that is taken completely at face-value.  Since these books are supposed to be completely realistic fiction (Dear America is a series of fictional "diaries" of girls, usually just entering their teens), I found it jarring and off-putting.  Let's just get that out of the way up front.  I get that a girl of her age and time and place would believe she sees a ghost.  But the story leaves no option except to believe that the ghost is real, and has been seen and believed in by at least two other people.  That I can't buy.  It kept jarring me out of what could have been a fine adventure story.

The history part is fine, though at times a bit heavy-handed with sharing the author's research (do we really need to know how to make a cream to keep hair from turning gray?  The incident adds nothing to the story).  I was excited to read about Bodie, which I have visited (it is a 'ghost town' east of the Sierra on the border between California and Nevada, managed now by the National Park Service), and I enjoy that period of history and reading about the area, but I can't say the story was super well-written.

The plot doesn't seem to quite hang together.  Angeline has to go to school each day, except that after the first day (when she shocks her teacher by showing up on the day after her father has supposedly been killed, and is cruelly punished for refusing to acknowledge he is dead), school sort of fades out of the picture.  She is worried about going back and being punished again, but we never hear more about it.   Further, the teacher who is so irrational and brutal in that instance is shown later to be actually a good and caring person, without ever dealing with her cruelty (after all, a bit of compassion for a child who is clearly in denial about her situation would make more sense even for a very strict, old-school teacher, than beating her for it--the punishment only rings true if Miss Williams is really a sadist).

These inconsistencies, compounded with the ghost story issue and too much focus on Angeline's crush on Antione Duval, left me feeling again and again while listening that the story just wasn't working well.  I have generally been impressed with the quality of the Dear America books.  This one doesn't seem to me to live up to the standard, though I was interested enough to listen through to the end.

Not recommended unless you really like ghost stories and are desperate to read about Bodie (which is undeniably a really cool place).

Full Disclosure: I borrowed Behind the Masks  from my (digital)  library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."