Hattie Big Sky - Kirby Larson

Why all this fuss about where someone was born? 

Wasn't it where he lived - rather, how he lived - that counted? 

- page 61

Continuing with my love of historical fiction, I chose Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson as my third historical fiction required read. Although I didn't love this book quite as much as I loved Esperanza Rising, it's definitely a close second. Hattie Big Sky tells readers the story of Hattie Brooks, an orphan living with her ornery (yes, ornery is the proper word for this woman) Aunt Ivy and her sweet Uncle Holt. Despite Hattie's age of 16 and the fact that she hasn't completed school, her Aunt Ivy wants to send her to live in a boarding house to serve as a maid. Magically, Hattie receives her own version of a Hogwarts letter - a letter from her deceased uncle (Uncle Chester) in Vida, Montana, leaving a 320-acre claim of his homestead. Hattie jumps at the chance to move out of her relatives' house and sets off to move to the homestead. What follows is her brief journey from Iowa to Montana and the struggles and heartwarming stories of her life 3 miles outside of Vida. 

Hattie meets a variety of people who impact her life in Vida: Mr. Ebgard - the lawyer in charge of carrying out her uncle's estate; Perilee and Karl Mueller and their children Chase, Mattie, Fern (and later on Lottie) - her neighbors; Traft Martin - the 20-year old son of the richest family in town; Rooster Jim - her chess-playing, bicycle-riding, chicken-raising neighbor; and Leafie - a hardcore woman who can hang with the best of them. All of these people have an impact on Hattie, whether it is one that will last long after she leaves Vida (like Perilee) or someone who terrorizes her existence in his place in the community (like Traft's mother - Mrs. Martin, and often sometimes Traft himself). This book reminded me a little bit of the TV show (that was a family favorite) called Christy (for a clip of it, see here!). Hattie has the same spunk and perseverance that Christy had in the tv show and they're set in the same time period in rural areas. 

Hattie Big Sky was named a Newbery Honor Book in 2007 and I completely understand why. Both Kirby Larson's writing and the characters that she creates throughout the novel had me on the edge of my seat throughout all of the pages. I even cried, which I rarely do while reading books (although the fact that the last two I've read I've cried during doesn't help me - at least they were Hattie Big Sky and Esperanza Rising). This book would be a fantastic read-aloud book or a book club book. I think it would also be a fantastic opportunity to children to journal in a book journal about their reactions, because many of the chapters leave you hanging on the edge of activity. I would definitely recommend Hattie Big Sky for an elementary school classroom! 

Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan

"Look at the zig-zag of the blanket. Mountains and valleys. 

Right now you are in the bottom of the valley and your problems

loom big around you. But soon, you will be at the top of the mountain again. 

After you have lived many mountains and valleys, we will be together."

- Abuelita speaking to Esperanza, page 51

Very few times am I incredibly and utterly touched and impacted by a book. I fall in love with books easily. I read them like magazines, from cover to cover. Sometimes over and over again. But Esperanza Rising was one of those books that I will not hesitate to put in my classroom library. It is a book that I think could be incredibly powerful to read-aloud to 5th and 6th graders. And finally, it is a book that struck a chord with me. I'm sitting here, on my couch, after finishing the book, and am stunned by the beauty of the words of Pam Muñoz Ryan, smiling because I am happy for Esperanza, amazed that this is based on the story of Ryan's grandmother, and unabashedly touched by the overwhelming perfection of this book. 

When we talked about historical fiction in class yesterday, I didn't realize it, but it is by far my favorite genre of literature. Many of my favorite books growing up and as an adult have been historical fiction books - Number the Stars, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Gone with the Wind, Roots, The Kite Runner, O Pioneers!, and My Antonia. Now, I can without a doubt add Esperanza Rising to that list of favorites. Pam Muñoz Ryan tells readers the story of a girl named Esperanza Ortega who lives in Mexico in the 1930s and tells of her incredible journey of coming to America and coming to terms with the sad reality of her life. Esperanza is extremely close with her Papa, a big, burly man who spoils her rotten. 

Although the Ortega family is living in Mexico, they are extremely wealthy and Papa gives Esperanza everything she could ever want. When bandits kill Papa the night before Esperanza's birthday, her world begins to crumble, and we see many other things become difficult. Her trickster uncles (one - the mayor, the other - the head banker) will not give Mama and Esperanza the money they have in the bank and unless Mama gets married to one of them, they promise to make the Ortega's family life difficult. They do this by setting fire to the house in the middle of the night. This leads Esperanza and her Mama to realize that they must move to California with their servant's family - Hortensia, Alfonso, and Miguel. This only begins the journey that Esperanza goes on from being the queen of the universe to being a peasant. 

Bits and pieces of this book reminded me of The Little Princess, because it takes a girl who is extremely close with her father, strips the father away, and then puts her in servitude. However, with Esperanza, there is no coming back for Papa, whereas Sarah is reunited with her father in the end. The transformation that Esperanza goes through during this book is incredible, and as the reader, we are taken on a conflicting journey. We adore her and the life she has in the beginning. We become frustrated with her when she acts like a stuck-up princess on the train and insults Miguel. We feel embarrassed for her when Marta picks on her and shames her because she doesn't know how to sweep. We feel happiness for her when she becomes independent. We feel sadness for her when Mama becomes sick and must go to the hospital. But most of all, we feel hope for Esperanza, which is ironic - because in Spanish, Esperanza means "hope." I think that was purposeful - what a beautiful and literal representation of the possibilities that a life holds. 

The "Author's Note" in the back of Esperanza Rising is a documentation of the personal life of Pam Muñoz Ryan's grandmother and a description of how the book came to be. This represents and adds to the accuracy and authenticity of the text, something extremely important for historical fiction. It also introduces Pam Muñoz Ryan as a cultural insider because these are the tales of her grandmother, and is also a winner of the Pura Belpre medal, a medal given to "a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth" (found on the website here). There are also various websites with ways to effectively integrate this book into the classroom, including different activities that Scholastic has suggested here. 

I'm planning on ordering this book to have it in my personal collection because of how wonderful it is. Because of how culturally accurate it is. Because of how much I connected with Esperanza. and Because of the hope that it can give children. I'll end with a quote from Abuelita - the most prophetic character in the book. 

"We are like the phoenix," said Abuelita. 

"Rising again, with a new life ahead of us."

Let us always have that esperanza.