Hattie Ever After
After leaving Uncle Chester's homestead claim, orphan Hattie Brooks throws a lasso around a new dream, even bigger than the Montana sky. She wants to be a reporter, knowing full well that a few pieces published in the Arlington News will not suffice. Real reporters must go to Grand Places, and do Grand Things, like Hattie's hero Nellie Bly. Another girl might be stymied by this, but Hattie has faced down a hungry wolf and stood up to a mob of angry men. Nothing can squash her desire to write for a big city newspaper.
A letter and love token from Uncle Chester's old flame in San Francisco fuels that desire and Hattie jumps at the opportunity to get there by working as a seamstress for a traveling acting troupe. This could be her chance to solve the mystery of her "scoundrel" uncle and, in the process, help her learn more about herself. But Hattie must first tell Charlie that she will not join him in Seattle. Even though her heart approves of Charlie's plan for their marriage, her mind fears that saying yes to him would be saying no to herself.
Hattie holds her own in the big city, literally pitching her way to a byline, and a career that could be even bigger than Nellie Bly's. But can making headlines compensate for the pain of betrayal and lost love? Hattie must dig deep to find her own true place in the world.
About the Hattie Series
Books in series order
- 1.Hattie Big Sky(2006)
- 2.Hattie Ever After(2013)
Reading age: 12+ years
This series should be read in order.
After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe. What follows is an engaging duo of historical narratives filled with warmth and humour.
Lovingly stitched together from Kirby Larson's own family history, and the sights, sounds and scents of a homesteading life, this young pioneer's story celebrates the true spirit of independence. The series is bound to appeal to a variety of readers, but particularly those who found a kindred spirit in Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables) or Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie). Hattie is a complex, brave and resourceful character and a wonderful literary heroine. Her story is all the richer for being based on that of Kirby Larson's own beloved grandmother.