1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Larson, Kirby. 2006. Hattie Big Sky. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0-385-73313-5
Larson, Kirby. 2006. Hattie Big Sky. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0-385-73313-5
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Since her parents’ deaths, Hattie has moved from relative to relative. After finding out that her aunt made arrangements to send her off to work in a boarding house, Hattie receives a letter saying that her uncle has passed away and left her his claim in Montana. Although she is only 16, Hattie accepts the challenge of homesteading and strikes off on her own. Strengthened by fierce determination and the friendship of her new neighbors, Hattie struggles to prove her claim and find a place of her own.
Since her parents’ deaths, Hattie has moved from relative to relative. After finding out that her aunt made arrangements to send her off to work in a boarding house, Hattie receives a letter saying that her uncle has passed away and left her his claim in Montana. Although she is only 16, Hattie accepts the challenge of homesteading and strikes off on her own. Strengthened by fierce determination and the friendship of her new neighbors, Hattie struggles to prove her claim and find a place of her own.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Readers acquainted with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series will find many parallels in Hattie Big Sky. While the time period is almost half a century newer (1917 - 1918), similar challenges and hardships await Hattie. Despite having lived on farms, Hattie is little prepared for what she has entered into, starting with freezing her hand to the water pump on her first day at her claim. She must deal with inhospitable weather, stampeding horses, wolves, illness, ever mounting debts, and the deadline to prove up her claim. She is a sixteen-year-old trying to do alone what has been impossible for many adults with families to help. Written in first person, Hattie shares all of her frustration, despair, hope, and determination. Readers will share her hope, cheer with her successes, feel the tension of fear, and taste the bitter tears of loss. Hattie’s sense of humor shines through, even in the midst of trying situations. Sometimes that humor is what pulls her through. You can’t help but want her to succeed, if only to prove the adults wrong.
Hattie is not too proud to ask for or accept help. The
Meullers, her nearest neighbors, meet her at the train and become indispensable
friends. Karl’s speech is peppered with German phrases. The Muellers’ children
welcome her into their family, and even teach her a lesson or two about
homesteading. Her odiferous, but friendly, neighbor, Rooster Jim, gives her
lessons on how to play chess and make your chickens lay eggs. Leafie Purvis is
the closest they have to a doctor. These people, rather than the “polite
society,” form the loving family that Hattie has yearned for, making this home
real and worth fighting for.
Hattie’s narration is in straightforward language, as is
most other dialog in the book. The men she meets on the train out to Montana
have a more rural, less educated manner of speaking. Homesteaders with less
education tend to have minor grammatical errors. Several people call her “Miz
Hattie.” Leafie has to explain several of her colorful phrases that Hattie
hasn’t heard before, like “traveling by shank’s mare.” Larson includes some
words and phrases like “piecrust promises,” “honyocker,” and “pish-posh” which
may have been more common in the early part of the twentieth century.
Based in research into primary source documents of land
records and homesteader journals, woven through with historical events, Larson
has recreated life as it would have been like in Montana in 1917 and 1918. Into
this backdrop, she brings to life characters who could be real. As part of the
flowing narrative, Larson gives details about everyday life, like what people
would have had in their houses, what they had to eat, how they set their hair
before the invention of hairspray, and even wanting to order things out of the
“Monkey Wards” catalog. (Though she was younger than Hattie, my husband’s
grandmother still called Montgomery Wards “Monkey Wards!”) Hattie buys Pond’s
Cold Cream and reads old issues of the Saturday
Evening Post. Although the book is rich in detail, it does not overshadow
the story. In addition to the information given in the author’s note, Larson
has suggested books and websites that she has used in her research that would
allow readers to continue learning about the period.
Hattie speaks with an adult voice, because that’s what her
experiences have transformed her into. In addition, adolescence did not exist
then the way it does now, so children moved into adulthood at an earlier age
than today. At the same time, she is not far removed from thoughts that modern
young adults would recognize. She searches for independence and acceptance. She
anticipates a break from work a dance, and blushes at the attention of a
handsome man. She feels overwhelmed at everything she has to accomplish.
Because of the themes of the book, coupled with the age of
the narrator, Hattie Big Sky would
appeal to a middle or high school audience. Hattie
Big Sky offers messages tied to the time period, but still important today.
It is a book about believing in yourself and following through on your
commitments. The book explores the importance of family, and Hattie learns that
sometimes the best family is the one you choose yourself. She also discovers
that home can be a state of the heart more than just a certain location. Her
faith in answered prayers gives hope even when she can’t see any solutions. The
answers to her prayers are usually something she couldn’t have predicted, but
she rejoices in them.
Set against the backdrop of World War I, Hattie finds
connections between her challenges and the experiences of her friend Charlie,
stationed in France. They exchange letters, full of holes from the censors’
scissors. Charlie enlisted with visions of heroism, only to discover that
fighting in a war is anything but glorious, particularly as his friends die.
The war strikes closer to home as anti-German sentiment turns much of the town
against Hattie’s neighbor Karl, and even his American-born wife and children.
Bullying takes place against children and adults. Hattie struggles with reconciling Germans as
the enemy that Charlie is battling with knowing what a good man her neighbor
is. Despite threats, Hattie stands by the family, knowing they have nothing to
do with the war. Duty, loyalty, and patriotism during the war are recurring
themes, and are often pushed too far.
While the Hattie on whom the book is based was successful,
Larson chose to show an accurate representation of what happened to most
homesteaders. She didn’t want to give modern readers a romanticized view.
Larson wanted them to connect with the characters and feel what it would have
been like for the majority who weren’t as successful as the advertisements had promised.
Hattie may not have achieved her dream (yet!), but she does not let that defeat
her spirit. She holds fast to the promise that tomorrow will be a better day.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
Cybil Award, Finalist Young Adult Fiction, 2006
Newbery Medal Honor Book, 2007
Newbery Medal Honor Book, 2007
Montana Book Award Winner, 2006
ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 2007
ALA Notable Children's Books, 2007
BookList Editors
Choice, 2006
BookList Top 10
Women's History Books for Youth , 2007
School Library Journal
Best Books Of The Year, 2006
Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of
the Year, 2007
Notable Social
Studies Trade Books for Young People from the National Council for the Social
Studies, 2007
H. W. Wilson’s Middle and Junior High Core Collection, core collection
School
Library Journal: “Larson relates a heartwarming yet poignant story
about homesteading in early-20th-century Montana. . . While the story relates
the hardships of frontier life and how Hattie ‘proved up’ to
the challenge, it also tells of World War I bigotry and discrimination toward
German Americans. . . Larson’s vivid descriptions of the
harshness of the work and the extreme climates, and the strength that comes
from true friendship, create a masterful picture of the homesteading experience
and the people who persevered. Hattie’s courage and fortitude
are a tribute to them.”
Kirkus:
“Hattie's first-person
narrative is a deft mix of her own accounts of managing her claim, letters to
and from her friend Charlie, who is off at war, newspaper columns she writes
and even a couple of recipes. Based on a bit of Larson's family history, this
is not so much a happily-ever-after story as a next-year-will-be-better tale,
with Hattie's new-found definition of home. This fine offering
may well inspire readers to find out more about their own family histories.”
BookList:
“The authentic first-person narrative, full of hope and anxiety,
effectively portrays Hattie's struggles as a young woman with
limited options, a homesteader facing terrible odds, and a loyal citizen
confused about the war and the local anti-German bias that endangers her new
friends. . . Writing in figurative language that draws on nature and domestic
detail to infuse her story with the sounds, smells, and sights of the prairie,
she creates a richly textured novel full of memorable characters.”
Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books: “With the literary Great Plains
overpopulated by plucky 1800s girls on covered wagons, it's refreshing to bring
the homestead experience into the twentieth century and meet a strong-willed
young woman who meets failure with dignity; shoulders her debts with
good-natured resolve, and plans her future with cautious optimism.”
Children's Literature: “This well-researched and gripping
novel firmly places its lively heroine in loneliness and debt on her rugged
uncle's land claim. . . However, in just one year on the Montana land, she
discovers what true friendship and family mean by standing by her neighbors. .
. Her discovery of enormous strength within herself as she makes independent
decisions on what is right, how to lead her life, and build her character makes
this a delightful and empowering book for young women who will enjoy some of
the eccentric Montana characters as much as Hattie's forthrightness and intimate concerns.”
The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews: “Hattie has a clear voice, ringing
with humor and strength and honesty. . . Larson researched many accounts of Montana
homesteaders. The way of life, the town, even the anti-German sentiment are all
accurate. Because this is a story, the reader feels connected to Hattie and those who people this book
and learns so much more than historical records alone could convey. Such is the
mark of all good fiction. . . We can only hope for more from this author.”
Karen Cushman, Newbery Honor
author: “A marvelous story about
courage, loyalty, perseverance, and the meaning of home. I gave my heart to the
brave and determined Hattie, and I think you will, too.”
Candace Fleming, award-winning
author of biographies and historical fiction: “Historical fiction at its finest with a riveting story, a character
worth cheering for, and an historical period that's not only fascinating, but
sheds light on some of our most pressing modern day problems.”
5. CONNECTIONS
-
Visit the Hattie Big Sky website (www.hattiebigsky.com),
which includes podcast and video interviews with Larson. The audio interview is
over half an hour long, so preview to see if there are pieces relevant to your
lessons. I was unable to get the audio to play properly for the video, but that
may be corrected at some point.
-
View historical family photos on the
gallery page at www.kirbylarson.com,
including the real Hattie, the site Larson picked for her claim in the book, and
a censored letter from World War I.
-
Explore the books and websites cited
by Larson at the end of the book.
-
Find more about homesteading in Montana
during the early 1900s at these websites:
This is an online textbook with accompanying worksheets,
historical documents, Internet links, and additional educator resources.
-
Make and sample the recipes given in
the book: Perilee’s Wartime Spice Cake and Hattie’s Lighter-than-Lead Biscuits.
-
Pull in discussion questions or
teaching units for the book, for example:
NoveList, a subscription database, has a discussion guide
and book talk.
-
Have students do some genealogical
research on their own family. They could write a short story based on some of
the facts they find. Students could use Library of Congress and NARA websites.
See if a local public library would consider partnering with a school for a
project like this. For example, Austin Public Library offers Ancestry, Heritage
Quest, and Family Search online to card holders.
-
Visit websites about quilting
patterns (for example: http://www.mccallsquilting.com/patterns/index.html). Have
students design and name quilt blocks that represent something to them. These
could be colored or glued onto a paper base with colored paper, scrapbook
paper, or fabric scraps. They could title their pattern and write a short
description of what it represents.
-
Students could debate topics in the
book and incorporate similar situations from the modern world. Possible topics
include whether people should have been forced to buy Liberty Bonds, if the
country people were born in affects their loyalties, or if Hattie should have
sold her property.
-
Students could work in groups to
create a book trailer. With written parental permission, their trailers could
be played in the library or used for the following year’s class.
-
For readers who enjoyed Hattie Big Sky, recommend they follow
her adventures in Hattie Ever After
(ISBN 978-0-385-73746-3), which takes place in San Francisco
in 1919.
-
Study the ads used to recruit
soldiers, buy Liberty Bonds, or support the war from home. Evaluate their
messages and what makes them compelling.
http://www2.coloradocollege.edu/library/SpecialCollections/HistoricalCollections/WWI/LB240-254.html
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