Hattie Big Sky

<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER &#149;&#160;NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER <br><br>A classic YA novel about a teenage girl searching for a sense of home and family that celebrates the true spirit of independence on the American frontier.</b><br><br>For most of her life sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has been shuttled from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There she summons the courage to leave Iowa and move all by herself to Vida Montana to prove up on her late uncle&#146;s homestead claim.<br> &#160;<br> Under the big sky Hattie braves hard weather hard times a cantankerous cow and her own hopeless hand at the cookstove. Her quest to make a home is championed by new neighbors Perilee Mueller her German husband and their children. For the first time in her life Hattie feels part of a family finding the strength to stand up against Traft Martin&#146;s schemes to buy her out and against increasing pressure to be a &#147;loyal&#148; American at a time when anything&#151;or anyone&#151;German is suspect. Despite daily trials Hattie continues to work her uncle&#146;s claim until an unforeseen tragedy causes her to search her soul for the real meaning of home.<br> &#160;<br>This young pioneer's story is lovingly stitched together from Kirby Larson&#146;s own family history and the sights sounds and scents of homesteading life.