sweddy65's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who read all the Little House books at least twice a year when I was growing up, this book spoke to me.
Nguyen, a recently minted PhD in literature (the academic stuff is both painful and sometimes hilarious), finds herself back home in Illinois with her immigrant mother and immigrant grandfather.
The family dynamics are painful. There is an underlying sense that Lee's mother loves her, but can't find a way to express it in any way other than disapproval. Lee's life does not follow the trajectory for traditional Vietnamese women.
Lee's love for the Little House books, and a pin that may or may not have been left in Vietnam by Rose Wilder Lane, who was there in 1965 as a reporter for a women's magazine, leads her on a research journey and a personal journey. She reconnects with old friends, she meets a new friend, she tries to connect with and figure out her brother, Sam, who is in a rage that colors the entire book.
This is a lovely tale of might be.
I think I liked this book even more because it was a random pick for me. The book I had gone to the library to get was not on the shelf. As I was standing in front of the N shelves, this one caught my eye. I knew nothing about it and nothing about Nguyen. This was definitely one of those glorious library miracles.
Nguyen, a recently minted PhD in literature (the academic stuff is both painful and sometimes hilarious), finds herself back home in Illinois with her immigrant mother and immigrant grandfather.
The family dynamics are painful. There is an underlying sense that Lee's mother loves her, but can't find a way to express it in any way other than disapproval. Lee's life does not follow the trajectory for traditional Vietnamese women.
Lee's love for the Little House books, and a pin that may or may not have been left in Vietnam by Rose Wilder Lane, who was there in 1965 as a reporter for a women's magazine, leads her on a research journey and a personal journey. She reconnects with old friends, she meets a new friend, she tries to connect with and figure out her brother, Sam, who is in a rage that colors the entire book.
This is a lovely tale of might be.
I think I liked this book even more because it was a random pick for me. The book I had gone to the library to get was not on the shelf. As I was standing in front of the N shelves, this one caught my eye. I knew nothing about it and nothing about Nguyen. This was definitely one of those glorious library miracles.
teriboop's review against another edition
5.0
What a delightful book Pioneer Girl is. Bich Minh Nguyen weaves historical facts about Rose Wilder Lane and her mother Laura Ingalls Wilder and wraps them up in a mystery that brings two cultures together in an unseemly situation. The story's main character Lee comes across a picturesque dress pin that an American woman named Rose leaves at her family's restaurant in Vietnam in 1965. Fast forward to present time and find Lee searching for the woman behind the pin. During her search, she uncovers more questions about Rose's family, but finds some answers to her own.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as a fan of the two Wilder women I loved the books as a young girl and am still captured by the stories and the women behind them now that I am an adult. This was a fun read, but had a lot of heart and a serious message about the sometimes difficult family relationships that we all often must face.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as a fan of the two Wilder women I loved the books as a young girl and am still captured by the stories and the women behind them now that I am an adult. This was a fun read, but had a lot of heart and a serious message about the sometimes difficult family relationships that we all often must face.
jajorgen's review against another edition
4.0
When it comes down to it not a whole lot happened in Pioneer Girl and yet I couldn't wait to get back to it whenever I had to take a break from reading.
Lee Lien returns to her family home in a Chicago suburb when she can't get a job after finishing her PhD. If it's not bad enough she has to take that step back, her mom puts her to work in their family restaurant The Lotus Leaf. Lee is miserably unhappy but can't figure out what to do to jumpstart her career and make her escape. A chance realization of a family connection to the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose sends Lee on a research quest.
What follows is a fascinating exploration about how the lives of a young girl growing up in 19th century America can mirror that of Lee who is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants and has led a similarly peripatetic life.
If I have a quibble it's that the ending sort of just petered out. I kept thinking there must be something more, and there wasn't. But that was a minor point.
*posted to edelweiss as well
Lee Lien returns to her family home in a Chicago suburb when she can't get a job after finishing her PhD. If it's not bad enough she has to take that step back, her mom puts her to work in their family restaurant The Lotus Leaf. Lee is miserably unhappy but can't figure out what to do to jumpstart her career and make her escape. A chance realization of a family connection to the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose sends Lee on a research quest.
What follows is a fascinating exploration about how the lives of a young girl growing up in 19th century America can mirror that of Lee who is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants and has led a similarly peripatetic life.
If I have a quibble it's that the ending sort of just petered out. I kept thinking there must be something more, and there wasn't. But that was a minor point.
*posted to edelweiss as well
storytimed's review against another edition
2.0
I read this novel in a day but it felt strangely flat/narratively unsatisfying to me? Her writing style is v good but she tends to write situations that involve the least amount of conflict or drama which hghh fair choice to make but personally v frustrating to me
Narrator: in my family we don't talk about issues. here are some interesting spicy mysteries I don't have the answers to bc we don't talk about it
Narrator, end of story: we have continued to not talk about issues
REALISTIC, BUT NOT V INTERESTING
Narrator: in my family we don't talk about issues. here are some interesting spicy mysteries I don't have the answers to bc we don't talk about it
Narrator, end of story: we have continued to not talk about issues
REALISTIC, BUT NOT V INTERESTING
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
4.0
One of Haley's favorites of 2014.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Spioneer%20girl%20nguyen__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Spioneer%20girl%20nguyen__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
froydis's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley and Viking Adult for early access to this title.
3 1/2 stars - I really enjoyed the writing style of this author! I had to check at one point, since I was sure she was writing her autobiography or memoirs. Its very well done as far as the realism of the situation. She writes about very real people, and their complicated relationships. I also very much enjoyed how she wove the story of Rose Wilder Lane and her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder, into the plot. I also very much enjoyed the academic angle, and could relate to how she felt leaving graduate school. My only real negative was the ending - it felt unresolved. But then again, so is life, and this book portrays real life in a very accurate way. Recommended!
3 1/2 stars - I really enjoyed the writing style of this author! I had to check at one point, since I was sure she was writing her autobiography or memoirs. Its very well done as far as the realism of the situation. She writes about very real people, and their complicated relationships. I also very much enjoyed how she wove the story of Rose Wilder Lane and her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder, into the plot. I also very much enjoyed the academic angle, and could relate to how she felt leaving graduate school. My only real negative was the ending - it felt unresolved. But then again, so is life, and this book portrays real life in a very accurate way. Recommended!
anna_sun's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked this author's writing style, and the parallels she drew between her family and the Ingalls were interesting, especially considering the years and cultural differences between them.
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a geeky librarian's dream book. Following a literary mystery, multi-culti characters, characters who talk about books in bed, who read aloud to each other. Little House references galore. What's not to like?
sarahhbeth_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Pioneer Girl appealed to me on several different levels. I found this book entertaining, intellectually fulfilling, and relatable. One of the major themes that the author explores in the novel is the sense of "Not Belonging." The narrator feels out of place as the child of Vietnamese immigrants in the largely white American midwest, as a recent graduate seeking out her place and purpose in the world, and as a daughter yearning for balance between familial duties and responsibility to one's self. I thought that the author's comparison between Lee and Rose Wilder Lane was apt, although at first glance the two women might not seem to have much in common. Through studying Rose Wilder Lane's life, Lee grows closer to finding her own "place of belonging."
As a child who, like Lee, grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series, this novel evoked carefree childhood memories. However, Pioneer Girl also pushes the Lee and its readers to reevaluate the stories read in youth in terms of race relations, historical background, the adult character's actions, the ratio of fact to fiction, and even to reconsider Laura as the sole author of the series.
Pioneer Girl embraced many important and relevant topics and still retains an interesting and enjoyable plot. I think that most people will find something to relate to in this novel, or at least a compelling story.
As a child who, like Lee, grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series, this novel evoked carefree childhood memories. However, Pioneer Girl also pushes the Lee and its readers to reevaluate the stories read in youth in terms of race relations, historical background, the adult character's actions, the ratio of fact to fiction, and even to reconsider Laura as the sole author of the series.
Pioneer Girl embraced many important and relevant topics and still retains an interesting and enjoyable plot. I think that most people will find something to relate to in this novel, or at least a compelling story.
renegades's review against another edition
3.0
This book was honestly nothing like the description or testimonials advertised it to be; not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but there wasn't so much of a fantastical mystery plot waiting to be solved, as much as it was a young woman navigating her family and own anxieties. An interesting read that touches on a lot of the pervasive anxieties all second generation Americans feel in the diaspora, but the book seemed to do just that--touch on the feeling and move on. I would have liked stronger writing and more in-depth exploration, not only of the narrator's motivations, but of her family's as well.
At the end of the day, I don't regret reading this book, but it's honestly quite forgettable.
At the end of the day, I don't regret reading this book, but it's honestly quite forgettable.