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Hattie Big Sky (Hattie #1)

by Kirby Larson (Goodreads Author)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 6,735 ratings · 1,173 reviews

Alone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle's homesteading claim.
For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie's been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubborn stick-to-itiveness, Hattie faces frost, drought and blizzards...more

Hardcover, 289 pages

Published September 26th 2006 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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Apr 10, 2008 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: All Ages

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

9 likes · like · see review

Dec 02, 2008 Luann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, historical-fiction, newbery-honor, orphans, 2008, american-history, ms-rec, gr-authors

Hattie is a sixteen-year-old girl who has been shuttled from relative to relative for most of her life after the death of her parents. When her uncle leaves her his homestead claim in Montana, she decides to make a go of it. Instead of being Hattie Here-and-There she wants to be Hattie Homesteader. In order to keep the place, she must prove the claim with enough fencing and farming to satisfy government specifications.

What a great story! I loved Hattie and her amazing spirit and determination. K...more

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 24, 2009 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Cindy by: Luann, Hollie

Shelves: 999, 20th-century, teen, blog

I don't remember who recommended this one to me, but thank you! I loved this story of Hattie Brooks, an orphan who has never had a real home of her own. She finds out that her uncle, whom she has never met, has left her his homestead in Montana in his will. If she can meet the requirements, the land is hers.

The trouble is that she has only 10 months to do it, and most of it by herself. The requirements are pretty tough, but Hattie figures with a good year, she just might have a place to call hom...more

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 26, 2009 Krysten rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-lit-books

Summary: Hattie Inez Brooks has been passed around from relative to relative all her life until her Uncle Chester leaves her a claim to stake in Montana. She eagerly leaves her kindly Uncle Holt and prickly Aunt Ivy's home in Iowa to make it on her own. Once Hattie arrives in Vida, Montana, she realizes that she already has some debt she owes from her Uncle Chester. She works very hard all through the severe winter, with the help of her friend Perilee Mueller and her family. Spring comes and Hat...more Summary: Hattie Inez Brooks has been passed around from relative to relative all her life until her Uncle Chester leaves her a claim to stake in Montana. She eagerly leaves her kindly Uncle Holt and prickly Aunt Ivy's home in Iowa to make it on her own. Once Hattie arrives in Vida, Montana, she realizes that she already has some debt she owes from her Uncle Chester. She works very hard all through the severe winter, with the help of her friend Perilee Mueller and her family. Spring comes and Hattie finishes the long fence she had to put up, and she learns about the anti-German feelings that people have when Perilee's kind and generous husband, Karl, is targeted. Through the seasons, Hattie must work very hard to prove up on her claim before November while also gaining a true sense of belonging with the people she loves near Vida. She learns generosity and the meaning of loyalty with Perilee's family, and she writes of her adventures to her school friend, Charlie, who is fighting the Kaiser in France, her Uncle Holt, and in a column called Honyocker's Homily for the paper back in Iowa. In the end, Perilee loses one of her children and decides to leave Montana, the war ends and Charlie comes home, admitting that he likes Hattie, while Hattie loses her claim due to debt. Although this ending may be bittersweet, Hattie does at last find a home in herself, and she learns to love the people around her.
Evaluation: I think this book lacked somewhat of a resolution and kind of tied up quickly. I liked the character development of Hattie very much but I was sad to see her lose the claim that she had worked so hard for. And whereas I thought she might at least end up with Charlie, that was left very open and uncertain. The book did bring a sense of real life to the time that it was describing, which I thought was interesting, especially after reading the author's note about this story being based on her great-grandmother's life. I thought it was a good book, but maybe not one of my favorites. I seem to prefer happy endings more when I am reading for pleasure, and I was really sad when Mattie died. I do think I would use this book in maybe a 4th or 5th grade classroom.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Dec 27, 2008 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, unfinished

I was doing the good reader thing, plugging along and enjoying the story. The setting of a Montana blizzard was quite appropriate at the time. The book had me going.

Then I did the naughty reader thing. My curiosity got the better of me, and I skipped and skimmed my way to the ending to find out what happened. Having done that, I lost interest in reading the rest of the book.

I do that sometimes.

I see this as a worthy book; themes of struggle against the elements, youth taking on responsibility, i...more

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 21, 2008 Karin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-caudill-nominees, young-adult-fiction, frontier, world-war-1, historical-fiction, america, realistic, borrowed-from-the-library

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Hattie’s sixteen and she’s just received a letter from her uncle leaving her his 320 acre farm in Montana. She can have it if she wants to work hard to prove his claim. Hattie jumps at the opportunity, but she has no idea how hard she’s going to have to work. She has until October to fence and cultivate 40 acres of her land and she can’t get started until spring. Having her own place, however, is worth all of the difficulties and setbacks Hattie encounters along the way. And the friendships that...more Hattie’s sixteen and she’s just received a letter from her uncle leaving her his 320 acre farm in Montana. She can have it if she wants to work hard to prove his claim. Hattie jumps at the opportunity, but she has no idea how hard she’s going to have to work. She has until October to fence and cultivate 40 acres of her land and she can’t get started until spring. Having her own place, however, is worth all of the difficulties and setbacks Hattie encounters along the way. And the friendships that she makes with her fellow homesteaders are ones that she will treasure her whole life long.

Hattie’s story takes place during World War I, and many of her adventures are told in letters to her school chum, Charlie, who is soldier in the war. Hattie’s a little sweet on Charlie, and it turns out that Charlie’s a little sweet on her (which is all very sweet), but they don’t actually get together at the end of the story. Hattie loses much of her crop to a freak hail storm and can’t pay off all of her debts – even though she’s farmed and fenced the requisite acreage, and she ends up going further west just as the war ends. There’s some hope and some indication that Charlie may join up with her eventually.

This seemed completely unbelievable to me at first. Hattie’s uncle allows her to go off to Montana on her own and everyone thinks that one sixteen year old girl is going to be able to farm a whole claim on her own?! That’s crazy! After reading about all of the hardships Laura Ingalls and her family experienced as pioneers and homesteaders, I felt like I had some idea what homesteading is like – and it’s not a job for a long teenage girl. But I could not put it down. Hattie (and I) learned a lot about homesteading – and no one does it on their own. As it turns out, Hattie and her neighbors work together and share the many responsibilities, bounties, and hardships of their lives.

At times this felt like it was Hattie’s continuing story – as in, continued from a previously written story. There were a lot of events in Hattie’s past that she casually refers to, and it seems like readers’ familiarity with them is taken for granted. I wasn’t sure if this was because I should have read something else first or if that was just the author’s way of dropping her readers into the story.

Kirby Larson based Hattie Big Sky on her great grandmother, who was sixteen and alone when she proved her claim. Statistically, she was one of the lucky, as most Montana homesteaders at that time went bust. Anyone who enjoys stories of pioneer life and strong girl characters should appreciate this story.(less)

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May 09, 2013 Leslie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Name: Leslie Short

APA citation: Larson, K. (2006). Hattie Big Sky. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Print

Awards: Newberry Honor Book Award; ALA Notable Children's Books 2007

Selection process: Teacher Librarian review; Booklist starred review

Review:

The story takes place in 1917, a time when the United States is involved with WWI. Hattie Brooks was orphaned at a young age and is constantly moving one relative’s home to another. Hattie is just sixteen when she inher...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Iroquois rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-audiobook, ya, historical

I came across this book over the summer when our then teen librarian was weeding the collection. I liked the picture on the cover and from the title I could tell it was probably about Montana, a state I've often dreamed of living in so I could keep plenty of horses:) I started reading it in hard copy and then once I had a clear voice for Hattie in my head I finished it out via e-audiobook on my iPhone for convenience.

Anyway, the story starts out reeeeally slow and thats why it took so long to p...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Susie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finally read this book when I found out some classes in one of my schools would be Skyping with Kirby Larson on WRAD13. I'm so glad I did! I've been to eastern Montana, and I have a cousin who lives in western Montana who used to fend off rattlesnakes by shooting them while holding her infant son while helping her husband with his hunting guide business; oh, and she was the cook, too.

Stories like this tend to mean so much more to me when I know that they are based on fact; I can't imagine a 16...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Patti rated it 5 of 5 stars

Intrigued by the cover and my good friend Tamra’s glowing recommendation, I checked out “Hattie Big Sky” from the library. I read it in just a couple days – because I didn’t want to put it down!

Heart-warming as 16 yr. old Hattie strikes out on her own, determined to make a success of a ramshackle “house” and 40+ acres out in the sticks of Montana. This claim and meager shack of a house, plus an old horse and a cow, was left to her after the death of an old uncle she had never met. Her parents w...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Audra Rowell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, kiddie-lit

Growing up, the Little House books and TV show were my absolute favorites. I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. So it stands to reason that I would enjoy Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. After reading it, enjoy is an understatement. It was beyond fabulous. Hattie Big Sky is the story of an orphaned sixteen year old girl who inherits a homestead from her scoundrel uncle. She leaves Iowa for the open skies of Montana with the hopes of proving up in ten short months. The story is set in 1918; woven...more

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Jan 20, 2013 TheBookSmugglers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult

Reviewed as one of Thea's Feats of Strength (50 word reviews):

50-word Review: Inspired by Lawson’s grandmother, Hattie Big Sky is a beautifully researched book telling the story of “honeyokers” (homesteaders) trying to prove up their claims in big sky country. Part epistolary novel, this book is a hopeful - yet heartbreakingly realistic - portrayal of homesteading. I cannot wait for book 2.

Final Thoughts: Like Ana, I think I'm getting the hang of these micro-reviews - but also like Ana, I simpl...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Misty rated it 3 of 5 stars

Really loved this book, except for the ending, though it has stuck with me over the years. I'm a sucker for things wrapping up perfectly, which is why I didn't rate it higher than 3 stars.

Alone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle's homesteading claim.
For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie's been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubbor...more

like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 kyendwarrior rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are few books that have made me cry. In fact only two books had managed to accomplish that deed. Until Hattie Big Sky came along.

Hattie Big Sky is a beautiful book about friendship, surviving, hope, and love. I absolutely love it! Her adventures and harsh, but truthful, ending left me feeling nostalgic for the countryside.

I love love Hattie! She's kind of sassy but really kind hearted and super smart. Her interactions with the kids are so sweet, and it's really heartwarming to see how muc...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 30, 2012 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Ages 12 and up

Shelves: newbery-honor, historical-fiction, juv-fiction, ya-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 19, 2012 April Hochstrasser rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although this tale begins slowly, the set-up is needed to explain the reactions of Hattie when she is left a homestead in Montana at the age of 16. She finds herself the potential owner of land that she will inherit if she can "prove" her uncle's claim and make the land produce crops in one year's time. She ventures forth alone, with no experience and little knowledge of how to go about farming, having previously been employed as caregiver and housekeeper to earn her keep at the homes of relativ...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 02, 2012 Sherry rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my library shelves since I started working in the library 4 years ago. Never ever would I have picked it up to read on my own accord... Enter TWITTER Book Club, led by none other than Colby Sharp & Jon Schu -- the go to's for all things amazing in children's literature for classrooms and libraries. Hattie Big Sky is our August read, to be discussed on September 5. So, I checked out the book and brought it home. Still it sat and sat, being pushed aside for other flashier...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Ann Carpenter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, newbery

A lovely book, and a fascinating look at the ups and downs of homesteading at the turn of the century. It was interesting to see such a familiar children's book topic (homesteading) set in 1918 rather than the more familiar 1880's, so that fear of grasshoppers and talk of horses were juxtaposed with automobiles and the first world war.

The end of the book surprised me. (view spoiler)...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Hattie Inez Brooks is an orphan who has been shunted from family member to family member since her parents died. She feels she is “Hattie Here and There.” When she’s informed of a totally unexpected legacy she sets out for Montana at the tender age of 16 to lay claim to her uncle’s homestead.

This is a good story, based on the life of the author’s great-grandmother. When most of us hear “homestead” we think of the mid to late 1800’s, but this story is set in 1917-1918. There is a lot going on th...more

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May 30, 2012 LJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

There's such good writing in this pure tale of one young woman's indomidable spirit, that is is a joy to read. Kirby Larson's character Hattie is fully realized, and we the reader cheer her on as she overcomes her own ignorance and challenges the ignorance of her neighbors. This book is imagined based on historical events during a time when land was up-for-grabs and all you needed to aquire some for yourself was guts and the ability to work hard. When Hattie's uncled dies, she finds herself the...more

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May 26, 2012 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Little House fans

Shelves: 2012-reads, history-based-fiction, young-adult

Sixteen-year-old Hattie is an orphan who's never really felt like she belongs anywhere. She's gone from one relative's house to another and is about to get forced out again when she has the opportunity to move to Montana to prove up on her late uncle's claim. She faces various hardships on the homestead and sees the ugliness of patriotic fervor and anti-German sentiment during wartime. She enjoys the help of friends and neighbors who become more like family and help her finally feel at home.

I'm...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Cheryl rated it 5 of 5 stars

A heartwarming "story about homesteading in early-20th-century Montana. Until the age of 16, orphan Hattie Brooks lived with whichever relative needed extra household help. Then she receives a letter telling her of an inheritance from her Uncle Chester, whom she had never met. Hattie is to receive his land claim, the house and its contents, one horse, and one cow. When she arrives from Iowa, she learns that she has 10 months to cultivate 40 acres and set 480 rods of fence, or lose the claim. Whi...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Karen Ball rated it 3 of 5 stars

Newbery Honor book this year! This is the fictionalized story of Kirby Larson's step-great-grandmother, Hattie Brooks Wright, who moved to Montana in 1918 on her own as a teenager and set out to "prove a claim" and through work earn the right to 320 acres of land. Proving the claim involved building a house, building a fence of a certain length (480 rods), cultivating 1/8 of the claim land (40 acres), and paying the settler's fee of $37.50 at the end of three years. In Hattie Big Sky, orphan Hat...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Kiersten V. added it

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson is about a sixteen year old girl who lost her parents when she was young. All her life she was moved from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie "Here-and-There", she moves to her Uncle's farm claim in Montana. Hattie has to work hard through freezing winters, blistering summers, and hard times to make sure she meets the requirements to keep her land. Hattie braves these hard times by writing to her friend Charlie, who is far away at war. Hattie als...more Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson is about a sixteen year old girl who lost her parents when she was young. All her life she was moved from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie "Here-and-There", she moves to her Uncle's farm claim in Montana. Hattie has to work hard through freezing winters, blistering summers, and hard times to make sure she meets the requirements to keep her land. Hattie braves these hard times by writing to her friend Charlie, who is far away at war. Hattie also makes strong bonds with her neighbor Perilee,her German husband Karl, and their children. They look out for Hattie in times of trouble and offer her important advice to help her keep her land. But at a time when Germans are considered sworn enemies, it may be Hattie's turn to look after the Muellers.
A heartwarming story about a girl making an unbreakable bond with her neighbors is absolutely timeless. This story offers lessons about life and family while showing the strife of that time period. Because of Charlie, Hattie constantly thinks about the war, and tries her best to help with the war efforts in America. But she is considered an outcast for befriending a German, a man who had showed her great kindness. The problem of staying loyal to her country while staying loyal to her friends is a big issue for Hattie. But she stayed true to her heart and made the right decisions.
I think this book is an absolute must read for those who enjoy a realistic, heartwarming story. I couldn't put it down, and I found myself anxious to turn the page. I was especially thrilled by the dangers of the wild Montana frontier. Rumors of wolves and cowboys did not stop Hattie, which showed just how determined she was to keep her Uncle's farm. She had to work hard to farm forty acres of land, build four-hundred and eighty rods of fence, and try not to develop hypothermia during the winter. She also had to deal with the challenges of her small, musty, shack of a house, her nasty, spiteful cow, and the mysterious Traft "Trouble" Martin. Still she powers through it all, which I find extremely inspiring. She had a little help from her neighbors, which strengthened their bonds of friendship. Hattie never had a true family to belong to, but the Muellers make her a part of her family. That is what I think makes this book absolutely outstanding. (less)

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Aug 09, 2011 Liora rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Sixteen year old Hattie has been shuffled from reluctant relative to relative ever since her parents died. So when her uncle dies and leaves her his homestead claim in Montana, Hattie jumps for the chance to be independent and become a real homesteader. There is plenty of hard work ahead in order to prove her claim. She must plant and harvest 40 acres, and put in a whole lot of fencing. She lives in her uncle's rickety shack and sets about with the work, and makes some good friends as well.

Mean...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I just read this book with Margot (age 10). Margot met the author, Kirby Larson, who lives right here in Kenmore, at a school assembly last year. The book is autographed and says "To Margot, dream as big as Hattie's sky"

It's a very good book, interesting to read about homesteading out in Montana during the war. The cold, the heat, the sacrifices that they have to make for the war effort and just to survive help to put things into perspective. As she was describing the cold of the winter, I thou...more

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May 02, 2011 Julianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a Newbery Honor Book. In our library it was catalogued in the "Young Adult Audio" section.

Hattie is an orphan, living with one relative after another, and finding no place where she really fits in. Then she receives a letter telling her that A.) she has an uncle!, and B.) he just died, and C.) he was homesteading a ranch in Montana, and D.) now it's hers! Hattie is only 16, but she is happy to leave her ornery aunt's home in Iowa and board a train bound for points north!

What follows is...more

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Mar 08, 2011 Corinne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

An orphan since nearly her earliest memories, Hattie has spent her life being shuffled from one distant relative to another. And now, in the thick of the first World War, Hattie finally has a chance to make something her very own: an inherited homesteaders claim in Eastern Montana country. With less than a year to "prove" the claim, the learning curve is steep but sixteen year old Hattie is up to the challenge. Of course, there are neighbors who provide help, but more than that, these neighbors...more

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Nov 30, 2010 Kathie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hattie Brooks inherits her uncle's Montana claim in 1917. As a sixteen-year-old orphan, the chance to have a place of her own proved to be the driving force behind her determination to prove the claim. Moving from Iowa to Montana, Hattie encounters plenty of obstacles during her first year in this World War I novel.

Written in first person, Hattie Inez Brooks has called herself "Hattie Here And There" since her parents died. Passed around from one relative to the next, she jumps at the chance to...more

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 25, 2010 Carolyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although categorized as a Young Adult novel, I read this coming-of-age story in my 50s and found it terrific. The main character, Hattie (who refers to herself as Hattie Here-and-There), is 16 years old in the early 1900s but forced into an adult mentality by the circumstances of her life. Like many fictional protagonists, she is orphaned early and passed around among family members, coming to rest with a domineering aunt and marshmallow uncle who keep a roof over her head while trying to browbe...more

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About Kirby Larson

Kirby Larson went from history-phobe to history fanatic thanks to a snippet of a story about her great-grandmother homesteading in eastern Montana. That bit of family lore inspired her to write HATTIE BIG SKY, a young adult historical novel, which won a 2007 Newbery Honor Award and Montana Book Award.

She's honored that Scholastic has asked her to write the lead title in the re-launch of the Dear...more

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Books by Kirby Larson

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“I will have to rely on that painful teacher, experience.” — 13 people liked it

“Sir if I was your daughter I would wait until this train started again and throw myself in front of it! ” — 12 people liked it

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