Reviews

The Journal of Otto Peltonen: A Finnish Immigrant, Hibbing, Minnesota, 1905 by William Durbin

meaganmart's review

3.0

The Journal of Otto Peltonen served as a great introduction to mining in the Midwest in the early part of the 1900s. I am an East Coast girlie, so while I am familiar with the coal mines of West Virginia, I was not at all familiar with the ore mining in Minnesota.

I would have been interested to learn a little more about the journey from Finland to Minnesota, especially the journey they made from Canada to Minnesota. I can appreciate that the heart of the story was Otto and his father's experience in the mines, but this is not an emigration journey that I am familiar with so I would like to have heard more about the journey.

willwork4airfare's review

5.0

Love this series. Loved this book. A great find at the local library sale. I cried a little.

zenithharpink's review

3.0

This read was interesting, but it was pretty superficial - even for this series. I'm pretty unfamiliar with this niche of American History, so it was definitely fascinating to me in that regard. Otto was an interesting character, if he wasn't all that exciting. He's a good boy and family man, I was just hoping for more - this was a sparse 146 pages, a theme I feel is more prevalent in the "My Name is America" series.

It's slightly disappointing that the story is so light, but what was there was good. I would recommend to fans of the series, young readers interested in American History, or even really young readers that aren't quite ready for a chapter book.

allmadhere106's review

4.0

I remember reading a Dear America book when I was younger and getting angry when I discovered it wasn't a real diary. Thus, I never read these books either until now. I think I definitely missed out. There's so much going on in this book that is heavily researched and documented that it's a very strong work of historical fiction. I wish I wouldn't have dismissed these books so easily when I was younger. I highly recommend these books, and I look forward to reading more later on. My only issue was that it ends a little abruptly and I wanted a greater sense of conclusion past what the epilogue gave me, but maybe that's just the nature of the diary/journal format.

For: fans of diary/journal formats; readers wanting to know about the life of an immigrant or life during 1905-1907; readers wanting an honest look at moments in our country's past.

Possible red flags: death and dismemberment; mild swearing; discussions of horrible working conditions and living conditions; bribery and betrayal.

beammey's review

4.0

Very good book. It really opens your eyes as to what some people had to go through not even hundred years ago and how hard life was for them. I would read this again and recommend it. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

theresidentbookworm's review

3.0

Another book I honestly can't remember. I do like the My Name is America series, though, so it must be somewhat good. I recommend the series!