Hattie Big Sky - Book Review

This post was written as a Master's course assignment for Texas Woman's University.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Larson, Kirby. 2006. HATTIE BIG SKY. New York, NY: Random House. ISBN 9780385733137 

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Miss Hattie Inez Brooks may get more than she bargained for when she decides to become a homesteader on her late Uncle Chester's farm. An orphan living with a testy, distantly related "Aunt Ivy," Hattie can't wait to break out and make something of herself at the strapping age of 16 years. Uncle Holt is the one who Hattie will miss the most, and who offers her great advice from afar during her adventures as a homesteader. 

Among disaster, surprises, financial woes, illness, war rations, and loneliness, Hattie gives every effort to "prove up" on Chester's land and finally make it her own. "Hattie here-and-there" grows into the slightly braver "Hattie Homesteader" who steps off the train in Montana. She continues to grow in a myriad of ways during her tribulations, until she can claim her own self, and her new name, "Hattie Big Sky."

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The post script on the letter to Hattie from her Uncle Chester includes the instructions: "Bring warm clothes and a cat." Of course, neither is quite sufficient to handle the brutal challenges of a Montana winter. Hattie must fulfill an ambitious to-do list in order to keep the claim, with little more than her cat, Mr. Whiskers, as a companion and mouse hunter.

Kirby Larson's clear language gives an excellent taste of the local flavor in the Montana of 1918, from the "thin as a washboard" cowboy's drawl, to Leafie Purvis' outspoken observations: "that boy is one sandwich short of a picnic basket when it comes to common sense." A friendly neighbor, who prefers the moniker "Rooster Jim," excels at playing chess, and the Mueller family enjoys making strudel for its patriarch, Karl, even if they have to enjoy the treats behind closed doors as a result of war time ostracizing.

Larson describes the land as flat, a "quilt over an enormous bed," or at second thought, "a sheet cake." Her sensuous words give the reader a sense of the enormity of the space, the abundant fragrances on the prairie, the joys of domestic work in the privacy of a tiny claim shanty. Hattie must sing to keep warm in the daunting cold to change into her nightgown. She's able to laugh at herself and her naivete at all the knowledge involved in homesteading, and Larson allows the characters to supplement and subsidize Hattie in the gentlest of ways until she proves herself outright. Whether or not Hattie is interested in becoming sweethearts with Charlie, her pen pal and school friend who has gone off the the war, remains to be told. 

The writing is humble and sparse, but descriptive and emotional, allowing the reader to identify with Hattie. Larson allows for moments of great humor, especially when Traft Martin comes calling on laundry day and spies Hattie's underthings, and also when, out of sheer frustration, Hattie takes Rooster Jim's advice on using a firm hand with the chickens, by dunking the defiant one in the rain barrel: "splash, splash, splash- I baptized that bird but good."

Kirby Larson gives a realistic and picturesque view of pioneering in 1918, providing multiple sources at the end of the book and enlightening the reader that her great-grandmother, Hattie Inez Brooks Wright, was indeed a homesteader on her own. Years of research and traveling allowed Larson to piece together the story of Hattie, based on some real events, adding authentic touches to a fascinating story.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
*Newbery Honor Book

Starred Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "Larson creates a masterful picture of the homesteading experience and the people who persevered."

Starred Review from BOOKLIST: "The authentic first-person narrative, full of hope and anxiety, effectively portrays Hattie's struggle 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."

5. CONNECTIONS

*Readers may also enjoy other stories featuring strong-willed young women orphans, such as the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES series by L.M. Montgomery, boxed set ISBN 9780553609417.

*See other books featuring young women in pioneer days, such as the Laura Ingalls Wilder  LITTLE HOUSE series, set of the first five in the series, ISBN  9780060754280.