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Apr 10, 2008

Mary rated it:

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0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 21, 2007

Hollie rated it:

Synopsis:
This is a story about Hattie Brooks, who is a 16-year-old orphan living with an insufferable aunt who constantly reminds her that she is nothing but a burden. Just before her aunt all but enslaves her to a neighboring household as a servant, Hattie receives a letter from her deceased uncle’s attorney that leaves her a homestead in Montana. Hoping to find a place of her own, Hattie leaves immediately for the untamed, wild Montana to farm the land.

When she reaches the More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Luann rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2009

Cindy rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2009

Krysten rated it:

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 an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2008

Karen rated it:

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, you More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 21, 2008

Barky rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Karen rated it:

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 Sk More...

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Jan 10, 2012

Kiersten 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. More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Liora rated it:

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.
More...

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Jun 08, 2011

Wendy rated it:

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 c More...

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May 02, 2011

Julianne rated it:

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 poi More...

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Mar 08, 2011

Corinne rated it:

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 More...

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Nov 30, 2010

Kathie rated it:

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 j More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 25, 2010

Carolyn rated it:

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...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2010

Lars rated it:

Teenagers are perfect protagonists for historical novels. Two historical novels for adults that really impressed me recently, 'The Children's Book' and 'Wolf Hall,' feature adolescents as central characters.

The rite of passage from child to adult is universal. And as Hattie shows in Kirby Larson's touching story, young adults' ability to bridge the divide between world of the kids and the world of the grown-ups allows the reader to enter both.

The time is 1918, just More...

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Apr 29, 2010

Wendy rated it:

HATTIE BIG SKY, by Kirby Larson, is a book that rings true.

When sixteen-year-old Hattie inherits her uncle’s claim in Montana, she accepts the challenge and faces west. Self dubbed as Hattie Here-and-There, her life as an orphan boosts her willingness to work and take on new challenges—if only to have the chance of owning her own place. She throws herself into the hard work of proving her claim even though common sense would dictate she sell out and run the other way.

We More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 21, 2010

Carol rated it:

Year Published: 2006
Awards: Newbery Honor Award, ALA-ALSC Notable Children's Book, ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies trade book for young people, Book Sense 76 Pick, Barnes & Noble Teen Discover Selection, Borders Original Voices for Young Adults Selection, Booklist Editor's Choice, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Age Level: 12-adult

This book is the story of Hattie Brooks, who is a young 16 year old orphan from Iowa. Throug More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2010

Cindy rated it:

I read this book because it was a Newbery Honor winner from last year (2009), and I enjoyed it! I like books that have determined heroines who do whatever it takes to improve their lives. Hattie could hold her own in the company of Anne Shirley and Kit from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, to name a few. She is an orphaned young woman who is shuttled from relative to relative, and so, when she discovers that she has been left a homestead in her late uncle's will, she makes the choice to leave for More...

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Oct 04, 2009

Dee rated it:

Hattie is sick and tired of being Hattie Here-and-There. Instead, she wants a place of her own. When her late Uncle Chester leaves his homestead claim for Hattie to inherit, she thinks it's the perfect time for her to settle down somewhere. So she packs her bags, waves goodbye to her Uncle Holt and Aunt Ivy, and boards the train to Vida, Montana. On her homestead claim, Hattie is not only enjoying her life and having a place of her own, but makes great friends with the neighbors Perilee, her Ger More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 21, 2011

JaNeal rated it:

I loved this book! The writing is as lovely as a blue prairie sky and the story is as relevant as a bowl of stew on a cold winter's day. Okay, perhaps I'm getting carried away, but something about this book makes me want to dig for my roots and write. That is exactly what Kirby Larson did. She learned her great-grandmother was a homesteader as a young, single woman and she wanted to learn more. As is often the case with family stories, her great-grandmother was gone before her story was rec More...

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Mar 29, 2009

Pam rated it:

Terrific historical fiction. I added this book for my friend Meg who enjoys YA. Set during WWI, this story about a 16-18ish (can't remember exactly) girl who inherits a homestead from her uncle. As an orphan who has lived in a unwelcoming home for years, she sees this inheritance as her opportunity to make it on her own and to have something of her own. She has less than a year to finish the homestead including fence and cultivate the land. She sets off on her own to Montana to homestead. More...

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Mar 09, 2009

Verona rated it:

My 10yr old daughter read this & liked it so much she wanted her own copy. Now I can see why. A great story with a strong and independent female character. Hattie grows up an orphan & never really knows the blessing of having a place or family of her own. Then, at 16yrs. old, she is given the chance to prove up a claim(300+ acre farm,in Montana) left to her by an Uncle whom she never knew. Through this she gains confidence in her own abilities & builds a close relationship with neighbors who bec More...

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Jun 14, 2011

melissa1lbr rated it:

Things I Liked:
This story is fantastic! I just fell in love with Hattie and I laughed and cried through everything she faced and overcame. Her determination, her strength of character and will can inspire any person to do difficult things. I've always had a soft spot for settler stories and this is a darn good one. I especially loved the other stories she wove into this tale - the prejudice many fought against and the fear of foreigners during WWI. Most stories show that during WWII, b More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Christina rated it:

In 1918, 16 year old orphan Hattie inherits 320 acres of land in Montana--if she can "prove up" (improve and make liveable) her land within 10 months then it's hers to keep. Alone except for some friendly neighbors (but out on the prairie a "close neighbor" can be miles away!) Hattie works hard to fence the land, plant 40 acres of it, and overcome all sorts of hardships from the weather to runaway horse stampedes to the Spanish flu outbreak. "Little House on the Prairie" More...

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Feb 15, 2009

Robyn rated it:

“I leaned back against the rough siding of Uncle Chester’s house and studied that Montana sky. I know the same sky hangs over Iowa – over Charlie in France, for that matter – but I don’t think it looks like this anywhere else in the world. There weren’t many trees or mountains to catch at that sky and keep it low. No, it stretched out high and smooth and far, like a heavenly quilt on an unseen frame. Back in Iowa, I’d spent my fair share of time studying the clouds and the stars. Sometimes, lyin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 31, 2009

Jennybug rated it:

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

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Deborah rated it:

I have to admit that I am usually skeptical of historical novels that are based on stories from the author's family, but this one really had just the right combination of imagination and true history. Besides being absorbed by the story of sixteen-year-old Hattie running a homestead she inherited and the hardships she endured, I learned a lot about homesteading and the hardships of rural life in the early twentieth century. This book is a rare look at life in America during World War I (I wish t More...

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Oct 06, 2009

Lesli rated it:

I loved this book. It was so fun. About 3/4ths of the way through I thought this book is much higher caliber then other books I've recently read, then I realized it is a Newbery Award book, so of course it is better. Its about a 16 year old trying to make it on her own on a homestead in Montana during World War I. I enjoying the homesteading stories, but also the political commentary. The book reminded me of my pet peeve in life. I hate how politicians uses patriotism to define nationalism. More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 08, 2011

Amy rated it:

I absolutely loved this book. I listened to the audio for this one. It has been awhile since I listened to a book where I was so engrossed in the story I didn't want to get out of my car.

This is the story of Hattie Inez Brooks, a 15-year-old girl who doesn't really have a home. Her parents died when she was young, and she has since been shuffled from one extended family member to another, never feeling "at home" anywhere. She receives a letter letting her know that her Unc More...

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