Kirby Larson gives readers an engaging and absorbing follow-up to her Newbery Honor book, Hattie Big Sky, as the heroine makes her way to the West Coast, in a story that stands on its own.
In Hattie Big Sky, orphan Hattie Brooks tried to make a go of the homestead in Montana that she'd inherited from her uncle. Although she worked hard, Hattie wasn't able to hang on to the property. In this new adventure, Hattie signs on as wardrobe mistress with the Venturing Varietals, an acting troupe that's traveling to San Francisco. Once there, she hopes to begin a career as a newspaper reporter. She knows it won't be easy, but Hattie is nothing if not determined. She takes a cleaning job at the San Francisco Chronicle just to get her foot in the door. Soon, she works her way up to researcher, and even wins a few writing assignments. But by following her dream, it seems that Hattie must leave behind all thoughts of becoming Mrs. Charlie Hawley.
Hattie Ever After reflects Larson's meticulous research, yet the historical details never overwhelm the story or the characters. Instead, all the elements combine to form a multilayered and colorful story. Readers will be thrilled to follow the trials and triumphs of Miss Hattie Inez Brooks in 1919 San Francisco. --Lynn Becker, host of Book Talk, the monthly online discussion of children's books for the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators