Kirby Larson, Author
Delacorte Press, Fiction, 2013
Suitable for ages: 12-17
Themes: Self-reliance, Orphans, Dreams, Reporter, San Francisco, Friendships, Historical Fiction
Book Jacket Synopsis: Great Falls, Montana, 1919. When Hattie mails off her last check to Mr. Nefzger, her uncle’s debt is paid in full. Now she is free to go anywhere, away from Mrs. Brown’s boarding house and the less-than-glamorous life of a chambermaid. Hattie’s dear friend Perilee urges her to do the sensible thing and join her family in Seattle. But Hattie is not prone to the sensible. What sensible girls would say yes to spending a year under Montana’s big sky trying to make a go of a long-lost uncle’s homestead claim? And what sensible girl would say no to Charlie, who is convinced he and Hattie are meant to grow old together?
For all its challenges and sorrows, Hattie’s time on the homestead gave her a taste of what it might be like to stake her own claim on life. She hasn’t yet confessed it to anyone, not ever to Perilee, but Hattie has thrown a lasso around a dream even bigger than a Montana farm. She wants to be a big-city reporter. Thanks to a vaudeville vanishing act, a mysterious love token, an opera star, and her unique ability to throw a snake ball, it looks like Hattie just might have a chance. And it is an opportunity for her to discover the truth about her “scoundrel” uncle and in the process learn more about herself.
What I love about this book:
- Kirby Larson returns with a sequel to her Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky. She couldn’t leave her readers wondering what happened to her memorable character, Hattie Inez Brooks, after she leaves the Montana homestead.
- The author brings history alive in this sequel, accurately recreating the setting for San Francisco in 1919. Readers will experience the inequality of women in the workplace, the shortening of dresses and bobbed hairstyles, an earthquake, the smells of China Town, the clanging of street cars, and the bay area before the Golden Gate Bridge is constructed.
- Hattie’s character grows in self-confidence after her year on the prairie. She is spunky and even more determined to follow her dreams to become a big-city newspaper reporter in a man’s world, where women write society columns. That’s not for strong-willed Hattie, who pays her dues as she moves up from a fact finder at the Chronicle to covering baseball games, rides in a Boeing seaplane, and snags an exclusive interview with President Woodrow Wilson.
- Her story is packed with action and tension. There is a mystery, an unexpected betrayal , a romantic under current, and other twists that kept me quickly turning the pages. Hattie Ever After is a very satisfying conclusion to Kirby’s Hattie Big Sky. Hattie is no longer the orphan trying to find home.
Kirby Larson is the author of Hattie Ever After, Duke, Dash, The Fences Between Us and The Friendship Doll. Check out Kirby Larson’s website and my reviews of Hattie Big Sky and Dash.
I am so glad there is a sequel to this story. Now I need to read both of them!!
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I was so happy to see a sequel. Her readers wanted to know what happened to Hattie. Again, Larson did a lot of research into San Francisco and tackled the history and issues of the day. Her book is an excellent read.
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I haven’t read this one yet! Are the events in this one still biographical of her (was it Grandmother?)? Wow – what an exciting life!
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Larson didn’t indicate that this book was biographical of her Great-grandmother. Unlike Hattie, she was successful at homesteading. But, Larson researched the historical period and Hattie’s experience in San Francisco is true to the time period and the issues a young woman would encounter trying to break into a man’s world as a newspaper reporter.
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This sounds like my kind-of-book! Will have to check out book 1, as well. Great review, Pat!
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Yes, it was my kind of book too. I was thrilled with this sequel. Great historical fiction!
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I don’t know why but it reminded me of Wheels of Change by Darlene Beck-Jacobson. (Probably b/c it’s also historic fiction during the same period with a strong female protagonist.)
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I haven’t read that book. Sounds interesting. Yes, this sequel reminded me of another piece of historical fiction I read last fall for the same reason — it was the location and same time period.
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I am so, so glad she wrote a sequel. I can’t wait to get my hands on this. I love this pioneer period.
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I really had a hard time putting the sequel down. Hattie’s year on the prairie gave her courage to follow her dreams to San Francisco. Her journey there is just as engaging. Very satisfying conclusion.
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Oh, I need to read this! I didn’t know there was a sequel. I should probably read the first one again, too. It’s been several years. Thanks, Pat!
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I loved the sequel. You’d appreciate the research Larson has done. So many rich themes and issues to deal with in this book.
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Thanks for bringing this one to my attention! Sounds like my kind of read and I really like that cover!
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It was my kind of read too! I loved the sequel and all of this history.
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Looks fabulous! I love the cover. And I love period literature!
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Yes, I’m finding myself reading a lot of period literature. So much to learn. The first book, Hattie Big Sky, is a courageous and challenging adventure in homesteading — based on the experiences of the author’s great-grandmother. Prairie life strengthens Hattie and allows her to go pursue her dreams in San Francisco at the turn of the century. This is a beautiful series.
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More Hattie! Love it!!!
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The sequel is excellent. Couldn’t put it down. The book is very character-driven.
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This sounds good. 🙂
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It is a great sequel to Hattie Big Sky.
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