Hattie Big Sky

<p><strong><em>NEW YORK TIMES</em> BESTSELLER &bull;&nbsp;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.</strong><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's homestead claim.<br />&nbsp;<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's schemes to buy her out and against increasing pressure to be a "loyal" American at a time when anything&mdash;or anyone&mdash;German is suspect. Despite daily trials, Hattie continues to work her uncle's claim until an unforeseen tragedy causes her to search her soul for the real meaning of home.<br /><br />This young pioneer's story is lovingly stitched together from Kirby Larson's own family history and the sights, sounds, and scents of homesteading life.</p>