This third and final volume in the HEARTLAND series continues the adventures of Moe, a spirited young girl growing up in a small Wisconsin town at the turn of the century. Moe has come to visit her grandfather, who was born when Halley's Comet last passed by. Now, Halley's Comet is about to pass by again, and Grandfather thinks he's going to die. Is there anything Moe can do to save him?

The year is 1905, and, hoping for a better life, eleven-year-old Su-Na, her parents, and her two younger sisters have traveled from Korea to Hawaii. But life there is not all that they have expected. There is no school, and the low wages paid to immigrant laborers are barely enough to survive on, especially after a new baby is born. After a year in Hawaii, the family travels to the town of Riverside, California, where Su-Na and her sisters attend school while their father works as a fruit picker. But after two years during which Riverside begins to seem like home and another baby brother is born, their life is shattered by violence and prejudice. Once again the family must move, this time to the mining town of Idria. The work there is very dangerous, and Su-Na, now an independent, headstrong teenager with dreams of her own, constantly quarrels with her traditional parents. This was an excellent addition to the American Sisters series that brought to life the conflicts that exist in immigrant families, between the traditional parents and their increasingly Americanized children. I highly reccomend this book to young readers who enjoy historical novels, such as the Dear America series.

TAKE TO THE SKY, the second volume in the HEARTLAND series, continues the adventures of Moe McDounough, a young girl living in a small Wisconsin town in the early 1900s. Moe is determine to fly, but where will she and her friend come up with the money neccesary to build a plane. And even if they do build a plane, can Moe really fly it?

This book was almost as good as the first American Sisters book, WEST ALONG THE WAGON ROAD, and was even better than the wonderful A TITANIC JOURNEY ACROSS THE SEA. This book tells of the Garrett family: ten year old Hannah, her twelve year old sister Abigail, and their father and stepmother, and the voyage they make from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 to escape religious persecution. This was an exciting, historically accurate story of the hardships and dangers people braved to colonize the New World in the 17th century. I can't wait to read the next two books in this series, ADVENTURE ON THE WILDERNESS ROAD and CROSSING THE COLORADO ROCKIES. Congratulations to Laurie Lawlor for the great job she did on this series. Fans of Dear America and American Diaries are sure to love American Sisters.

I spotted this book at the library near the check-out desk and grabbed it-the subtitle, The Frontier photography of William Henry Jackson, sounded like something I could pick up and browse in between tasks (this was between Thanksgiving and Christmas). I have a grown son in California and a grown daughter who is a photographer and who travels the world pursuing new vistas for her camera. I am buying her this book as it resonates with the kind of tale she has told me of her adventures. It is described as juvenile literature, which is all well and true because the language is accessible to junior-high-aged children, but nevertheless regrettable because perhaps most adults will therefore never consider reading it. Yet the writing, the concepts, and above all the photography are so full of the beauty, the optimism, the struggles and challenges of our nation in the nineteenth century as we grew from a rural thinly populated mainly eastern seaboard land to a multiethnic, continental, industrial society that I found it entirely engrossing. All these social and cultural threads weave through the narrative painlessly, and the glory of the photos of life and nature and the real people I have always heard (only as names in history books) at the time of the conquering of the west are reason you keep turning those pages.

The heartwarming book, Little Women, has won its readers love and support. The generalized assessment shows fondness to the realistic viewpoint of the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and descriptive details that transport the reader into the beloved fairy tale. The plot of the story centers upon the girls' lives as they grow up during the Civil War. Each of the girls is extremely distinct in their character, taste, and dreams for their future. The positive role model and personal advisor to all of the girls is Mrs. March. I feel that she advised all of her daughter in making good decisions, except for when she agreed with Jo that Laurie was not a suitable match. The change the girls undergo as they get older is completely intriguing as each has special qualities and drawbacks to their character. The realistic aspects of the tale is one of my favorite characteristics of Louisa May Alcott's writing style. The detailed descriptions sent picturesque scenes through my mind. The variety of emotions throughout the duration of the book takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride.

The first time I read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, I fell in love with the story. Little Women is the story of four girls that were coming of age during the civil war. Each of the girls, all sisters, has different personality traits and characteristics that are developed throughout the book. Meg, the oldest, is the sensible sister, while Jo is hot-headed and independent. Beth is musical and Amy, the youngest, is the more material of the four. The girls grew up in a very close family and strived to support each other in their dreams. But Jo, the second-born, has a difficult time seeing all of them growing up and leaving home. She wants things to remain the same, always. Change is inevitable, however, and throughout the book, the girls' love for each other is strong, as they face different challenges and joys of growing up. They keep their strong sense of family... I thoroughly enjoyed reading Little Women. It has been awhile since I was able to sit down and read a book I so love. Louisa May Alcott's character, Meg, did not hold much interest for me... Amy, the baby of the family, was too materialistic for my taste. The character I related to the most was Jo. I do not know if it is because I am like her, or if it was her spunk that I really liked. I loved to see the blossoming love Laurie had for Jo... I think that Louisa May Alcott did a wonderful job in writing Little Women. I could relate to the book and with how the four sisters were at home with their mother and their father was off doing military things. I grew up with a father in the Navy and he was gone a lot. My mom, brother and I had to take care of things while he was gone. Life goes on even if the whole family is not together.
I fell in love with the Little Women at a young age and I hope to read this book to my children as they get older... This is a great book for teaching these things to children.

Little Women focuses on the four March girls; Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they grow up from childhood to adulthood. The characters in the book try to teach each other helpful lessons about life, virtue, and morality. The novel is a real eye opener for everyone. Each of the mistakes the girls in the novel make are intended to provide some guidance for the reader. Society is explained, the harsh winters are described, and the profound work ethic of the people is described to also give the reader a strong sense of what life was like during the nineteenth century. I can strongly relate to all the character's feelings which are strongly depicted in Alcott's writing. I firmly believe all teenage girls should read the novel to hopefully be as strongly influenced as I was. The girls are constantly troubled by the necessity of being good, even when they feel the desire to be bad. There are also many issues on relationships between girls and boys. Friendship turns into love and vice versa, making a strong theme out of gender relations. The girls also struggle with the ideas of motherhood, sisterhood, pride, education, and marriage. After reading this novel, the reader will hopefully look more at their own life and his/her morales. Through the novel there is clear representation of the benefits of what good does.

"Exploring the Chicago World's Fair, 1893" is a good book, but it didn't have an ounce of happiness to it. Under the circumstances, I understand that Dora wouldn't be running with joy throughout the fair, but still, have her smile at the sights and sounds every so often. I find it hard to believe they would build a fair, which reminds me of a modern theme park from today, and then tear it down - how sad. Also, we never found out why Da Pomeroy's letters never made it to his wife and children, what job Mama Pomeroy took to make money for the rent and food, after she quit being Little Egypt, etc. I enjoy Laurie Lawlor's writing, but I am disappointed with the American Sisters series for two reasons: there isn't an Epilogue, so you haven't a clue how the Pomeroy's fair in the future, and second there isn't a historical explanation of the fair. If you don't care to learn about the historical facts of the Chicago World's in 1893, but just want to see what it was like from a child's point of view, then I recommend it - if you want to learn history, then don't bother.

Dora Pomeroy has always longed for a more traditional family. Her parents, who are in the theater business, have moved the family - Dora and her three younger sisters - more times than Dora can remember. Out of the twelve years of her life, Dora has only attended school for four years. Her happiest memories are of the past year spent on a ranch on the Nebraska prairie - ironically, her parents' worst memories. Now that the ranch has failed, the family is moving to Chicago - just in time for the World's Fair of 1893. For the Pomeroys, Chicago is a city of dreams. Dora and her sisters are eager to explore the fair. But when the girls and their mother lose contact with their father, reality hits hard. Mrs. Pomeroy and the three older girls have to work to pay for their room and their meals. Dora longs for the day when her family will finally be together again - but will that day ever come?

This book is incredibly boring, and was probably just written to copy the other good series featuring girls from the past (like Dear America). There are a million kids in the Scott family that are gradually introduced through out the book and it's annoying to go, "Oh, so there is ANOTHER kid." The book is extremely boring, and I kept reading and reading thinking that the exciting part just had to come soon. It's disgusting- because they jump around on top of a dead ox. You don't feel for Duck missing her mother because she is dead right when the book starts, and you never get to meet her. Don't waste your money on this book.

Harriet Scott was a real girl who, in the spring of 1852, at the age of eleven, joined a wagon train for Oregon with her large family (consisting of Harriet, her parents, her five sisters, and her three brothers). More is known about Harriet and her family than most pioneers, because one of her sisters kept a journal that was later published, and Harriet herself wrote and published a memoir as well. Taking the facts and filling in with what was not known, the author has crafted a believable tale about the difficulties and tragedies this family encountered, which included the deaths of Harriet's mother and youngest brother. But what is certainly true for the survivors is that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Harriet is portrayed as a spirited, adventurous tomboy who develops a fierce loyalty to her family. She often resents her older sisters, who try to curb her spirit and keep her out of trouble. (Some things never change, no matter what century it is!) This book starts of a series that would be enjoyed by fans of the Dear America series.

The author really made the characters of Duck and her sisters come alive and she described the journey really well. This book was both funny and sad. This is a really cool author & series!

This book was a O.K. book. It was about a little girl named Addie and her family. They moved a very long way leaving behind family and friends. The place they moved to is a vast, open place in Dakota. While they were getting settled,they stayed with the Fencys. The Fencys helped them and they got settled. I liked this book.
by:Amanda McCoy

Addie across the Prairie is an excellent book for children interested in their heritage or wanting to learn more about the lives of pioneers. It gives accurate descriptions of plants found on the tall grass prairie and the characteristics of a sod house. It includes the emotional element that all pioneer families must have felt when they left family and friends behind but yet emphasized why settlers moved to these remote places - for opportunities to improve the standard of living for their families. It also showed the work and responsibility that was required of young people during that era. I highly recommend it as out-of-classroom reading for students studying American History.

I thought this book was great! Of course it was kinda boring in the beginning, but later on in the story it turned out to be great! My favorite part was at the end when Addie and her little brother had to escape a prairie fire! Then she had to risk her life and her brother's life to save their lives. I know, weird! They had to hide in the unfinished well where the water was kept. I reccomend all of you who is reading this review to read the book Addie Across the Prairie. You won't regret it! :o)

I was very disappointed when I got "Where Will This Shoe Take You? : A Walk Through the History of Footwear." I expected color pictures of shoes from every era, not classified by shoe style. Also, I expected more pictures of people wearing the shoes featured in this book, as there were few pictures. I do not recommend.

If you love shoes as much as me, and that would be a whole lot considering the fact that I have an whole walk in closit full of shoes, then you would love this book. This book explains all about shoes from all over the world! I enjoyed it so much because I enjoy learning about shoes. This is amazing because I usually hate reading!