Ann Warren Turner

READING LEVEL: 3.6 AR POINTS: 4

Sam White, the oldest of two sons of a pioneer family, tells the story of their travel from Kentucky to the Dakota Territory nine years after the Civil War, in 1874.

They left behind grandparents and good friends in search of a better life. The government was issuing 160-acres of land free to new settlers, as long as they planted 10-acres, built a house, and stayed for 5 years. The White's first year corn crop, along with everyone elses around them, including surrounding states, were wiped out by a grasshopper plaque. They borrowed money for the first time in their lives for seeds and supplies to try again the following year, but others left defeated.

I didn't think this was very well written, even for elementary aged kids. The author just jumps right into characters in the first sentence with no introductions. I'm a grown ass adult and was lost on what was going on and who was who for a chapter or two. The story later flowed a little better, but the author's got a strange way of wording her sentences which often left me with the question of...wait... what did I just read? And had to read it again.
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The grasshopper plague, was a real thing and occurred from 1873 to 1877, every summer destroying crops and eating pretty much everything in sight, from Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Iowa.… (altro)

You won't find here a carefully researched academic book on comparative ethnology with many references to relevant literature: much of that is sacrificed to the narrative.
You also won't find an intriguing collection of short stories: much of the pathos and enjoyment in the reading is sacrificed to the repetition of common motives that appear in different cultures.

Yet, the book is intriguing. One closes it with a mixture of light-heartedness (from the well-written stories from interesting perspectives and the general cuteness of the baby theme) and subtle disgust (from certain rituals/ideas).
But most of all, what is there to learn when the author points out the many ways in which we still live by the same age-old rituals, even if we don't know anymore what they mean?… (altro)