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ljrinaldi's review
2.0
I am currently reading two books about the life of Laura Eagles Wilder. One is an annotated version of the autobiography that she wrote in the 1920s. The other is her life's story, with comments about historical things that were happening at the time, and how they affected her life, and the things that happened to her, such as the settling of the Dakotans, and Kansas, and the Homestead act. It tells how hard life was for her, despite how she makes everything in her books sound as though well, by gum, we will manage because we are pioneers, and that is what we do.
There is often not enough to eat, and crops fail, and banks foreclose and life is hard.
So, then I take a break, and read this book, put out by a Christian publishing house, and although life is hard, there is always plenty of food, (where is all that ham coming from), and although they are farmers, things seem to be going ok for the people in this book. The children from the orphan train all end up in Iowa, and for the most part, are happy, and healthy, and have a great school teacher.
And since it is a Christian publishing house, I had braced myself for preaching, but it was light enough that it almost didn't bother me too much. We were not lectured, just a bit of bible reading thrown in from time to time.
What bothered me the most was just how perfect it all was, the ideal small town, out of Meet me in St. Louis where people are good, and the only thing that is hard to take is a bully taunting you.
As I said, at the top of this review, this white-washed view of the past is not true historical fiction. This is a bit like the Amish love stories that are put out, that there is a better life, if we only were hard working farmers, and lived in a small town, and had good friends, and well, read the Bible.
I know it is a children's book, and that is fine. But there is nothing here that feels as though it is historical fiction. This is a world that may have existed, but not quite like this. As the true life of Laurie Engles Wilder teaches us, sometimes being a farmer in the United States is not the best way to earn a living
Normally I would not rip this down to two stars, but I don't want anyone reading this expecting truer historical fiction. And the illustrations are too contemporary. They do not even look like children from the 1920s. And when the author says that Emma is wearing boots, the illustrator draws her in patent leather.
This book is not for me. Perhaps parochial schools will like it in their libraries.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
There is often not enough to eat, and crops fail, and banks foreclose and life is hard.
So, then I take a break, and read this book, put out by a Christian publishing house, and although life is hard, there is always plenty of food, (where is all that ham coming from), and although they are farmers, things seem to be going ok for the people in this book. The children from the orphan train all end up in Iowa, and for the most part, are happy, and healthy, and have a great school teacher.
And since it is a Christian publishing house, I had braced myself for preaching, but it was light enough that it almost didn't bother me too much. We were not lectured, just a bit of bible reading thrown in from time to time.
What bothered me the most was just how perfect it all was, the ideal small town, out of Meet me in St. Louis where people are good, and the only thing that is hard to take is a bully taunting you.
As I said, at the top of this review, this white-washed view of the past is not true historical fiction. This is a bit like the Amish love stories that are put out, that there is a better life, if we only were hard working farmers, and lived in a small town, and had good friends, and well, read the Bible.
I know it is a children's book, and that is fine. But there is nothing here that feels as though it is historical fiction. This is a world that may have existed, but not quite like this. As the true life of Laurie Engles Wilder teaches us, sometimes being a farmer in the United States is not the best way to earn a living
Normally I would not rip this down to two stars, but I don't want anyone reading this expecting truer historical fiction. And the illustrations are too contemporary. They do not even look like children from the 1920s. And when the author says that Emma is wearing boots, the illustrator draws her in patent leather.
This book is not for me. Perhaps parochial schools will like it in their libraries.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
camillalice's review
3.0
I love orphan train stories, but a lot of them are incredibly sad - which was the case for lots of these child ren in real life, of course. So I found it quite sweet how this is not the case at all in this story. This is more a feel-good story. I never realised it was a Christian publisher until I read reviews after having read the book, so I didn't find the presence of religion over the top. I just assumed it was the case for the characters as a historical detail.
The only thing that bothered me with the religion aspect is when Bert solves a bullying problem by being nice to the bully... That's not how it works in my book. I also thought the misunderstanding brought on at the end wasn't explained at all.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
The only thing that bothered me with the religion aspect is when Bert solves a bullying problem by being nice to the bully... That's not how it works in my book. I also thought the misunderstanding brought on at the end wasn't explained at all.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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