Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larsen is the story of 16 year old Hattie, who has never felt like she has a home of her own. She's been moved around her whole life, and desperately wants a place of her own. Her uncle leaves her his Montana claim, if she is willing to move there to work it in time to meet the deadlines/guidelines for staking a free claim. Hattie gets her affairs in order and moves to Montana, without knowing anyone or anything about what she's really getting herself into.
There is a wonderful family that lives close to Hattie, and they do all they can to make her feel welcome, help her get settled in and survive. But, it's the middle of WWI, and the husband is German. It's a small town, and the people can't see past his German heritage to the good man they've known for so long. Hattie's never seen anything like it, and it, among other things, forces her to change her view of the world. The story also uses a series of letters Hattie is writing to a friend overseas fighting the war, and articles she sends back to her hometown newspaper about her life in Montana to earn a little money.
I thought this book was stunning. The writing is beautiful and engaging. Hattie is a wonderful narrator. She has a strong, independent voice, spoken, internal and written, and she knows who she is, but she also recognizes that she has room to grow, and she welcomes the help other people can bring to her. She is friendly to all the neighbors, and develops a really solid relationship with all of them, except the stories main antagonist, and even then, Hattie goes out of her way to be nice, and friendly. Chase and Mattie are the older children of the family mentioned above. Their father died, and it's their step-father who is German. These children were a wonderful part of the story. They reminded me of why I really do just love kids. They have a freshness and innocence to them as well as a firm pride in themselves and the man they call their father that you can't help but love them. Some of the most emotional, hopeful and heart-rending scenes involve those children.
Larsen is also a wonderful writer. I live in Idaho, which shares a border with Montana, and I've spent my fair share of time up in Montana and Wyoming both. Larsen nailed it. The area is beautiful, but wild and that feeling is really captured here with Hattie. Larsen's descriptions were so awe-inspiring that I found myself tempted to be a homesteader, and I know what it feels like to be so cold mere minutes outside freezes your blood in your veins, and you think if you close your eyes you'll never be able to open them again. It doesn't get to negative 65 degrees here anymore, but it sure gets cold. The terrain is majestic. When you stand at the edge of a huge expanse of open terrain, it makes you feel like you are a part of the land, like the earth is filling you completely. I can't imagine how much more powerful that feeling would be if you knew that you owned that land.
This is a book I think it would be a shame to miss. This book is one to break the heart. It's rough. Living on your own in the wilds of the Montana prairie would not be easy for anyone, but Hattie handles her trials admirably. Although the story is not always a happy one, it is always a hopeful one.