Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby Larson (Author)
For most of her life, sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has been shuttled from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she summons the courage to leave Iowa and move all by herself to Vida, Montana, to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim. "At least now my letters will be more interesting," she writes to her good friend, Charlie, who is fighting the Kaiser in France.
Under the big sky, Hattie braves hard weather, hard times, a cantankerous cow, and her own hopeless hand at the cookstove. Her quest to make a home is championed by new neighbors Perilee Mueller, her German husband, and their children. For the first time in her life, Hattie feels part of a family, finding the strength to stand up against Traft Martin's schemes to buy her out and against increasing pressure to be a "loyal" American at a time when anything—or anyone—German is suspect. Despite daily trials, Hattie continues to work her uncle's claim until an unforeseen tragedy causes her to search her soul for the real meaning of home . . .
Recognition: Newbery Honor (2007); American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults (2007); Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2009)
Under the big sky, Hattie braves hard weather, hard times, a cantankerous cow, and her own hopeless hand at the cookstove. Her quest to make a home is championed by new neighbors Perilee Mueller, her German husband, and their children. For the first time in her life, Hattie feels part of a family, finding the strength to stand up against Traft Martin's schemes to buy her out and against increasing pressure to be a "loyal" American at a time when anything—or anyone—German is suspect. Despite daily trials, Hattie continues to work her uncle's claim until an unforeseen tragedy causes her to search her soul for the real meaning of home . . .
Recognition: Newbery Honor (2007); American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults (2007); Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2009)
Hattie Series—Summary and Book Order
Series: HattieReading level: 12+
Books in series: 2
Read in order? Yes
Next release: Finished
Website: kirbylarson.com/books/novels/hattie-big-sky
Tags: historical realistic fiction culture war family nature
Print series book list