March 28, 2016
Dagg (The Year We Were Famous) delivers another engrossing historical novel in a story exploring family bonds, the pioneer spirit, cooperation, and the meaning of home. In 1934 Wisconsin, the Johnsonsâlike manyâhave fallen on hard times: Pop has lost his job, and the family has little to eat, except for what they grow, including a crop of pumpkins that 11-year-old Terpsichore turns into meals. When President Roosevelt implements the Matanuska Colony project, offering needy families acreage in Alaska to start farms, Pop signs on against the wishes of his wife. The story of the family's adjustment to frontier life is real and moving, and the obstacles are significant: they initially live in a tent and are plagued by "measles, mud, and mosquitoes." Dagg credibly shows Terpsichore's burgeoning maturity as she works to open a library, comes to appreciate (rather than resent) her sisters' musical talents, and finds a way to help her mother accept Alaska as home. A memorable tale of physical and emotional survival. Ages 10âup. Agent: Steven Chudney, Chudney Agency.
November 15, 2015
If Laura Ingalls Wilder had lived in Alaska, she might have written this novel. Like young Laura, the improbably named Terpsichore Johnson relocates with her family from their Wisconsin home--but not to the prairie. They move to rural Alaska because it's 1934, and the Depression has hit hard. In those dark days Franklin Roosevelt began a colony there for "pioneers" who were willing to try to make a go of the inhospitable wilderness; the plot of this heartwarming novel is based on that little-known historical project. "Trip" is inspired by and frequently invokes the Little House books as she staunchly attempts to find her place in her new home and among new friends. And is she ever a whiz at growing pumpkins and cooking. The former talent brings about a wonderfully satisfying ending. Yet the author doesn't romanticize the hardships these stalwarts faced. Dagg does a fine job evoking a realistic sense of time and place, with a few historical figures adding to the authentic flavor. Trip's a beautifully realized heroine, and readers will be heartened by her and her friends' efforts to develop a sense of communal spirit in their new, pristine colony. Kids will also be amazed by 1930s prices. Cozy, charming, and old fashioned, but in a good way; fine for curling up and reading under the covers--in Alaska or elsewhere. (author's notes, recipes) (Fiction. 10-14)
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January 1, 2016
Gr 4-8-Eleven-year-old Terpsichore Johnson is vivacious, inventive, resourceful, and determined to help her family thrive in their new Alaskan home. Unemployment and hunger in the 1930s compel the Johnsons to join an exodus of over 200 upper Midwest families to the New Deal's experimental Matanuska Colony in Palmer, AK. Despite the trauma of leaving Wisconsin friends, her grandmother, and refinements, Terpsichore, her siblings, her upbeat father, and her cultured, skeptical mother meet hardships with adventuresome spirit. From tents, mud, mosquitoes, and construction delays to their own 40 acres and a farmhouse, the Johnson family gradually discover the riches and possibilities of their new environment. Terpsichore and two equally spunky and enterprising new friends form a "library action committee" to bring books into the community. Hoping to ensure her musical mother's willingness to stay in Alaska, Terpsichore secretly buys a piano with money earned from growing a giant, prize-winning pumpkin and publishing a cookbook of unique local recipes. Resilience, togetherness, and civility are unshakable family values. Authentic references to the 1930s abound: an FDR Fireside Chat, Shirley Temple curls, the measles epidemic, a visit to Palmer by celebrity Will Rogers, and the challenges faced by the Matanuska colonists. Fact and fiction and real and imagined personalities and events are seamlessly woven into this quaint, energetic, and engaging story. VERDICT Short, lively chapters; dynamic characters; family struggles and unity; and well-blended Depression-era facts will capture and inform middle grade readers.-Gerry Larson, formerly at Durham School of the Arts, NC
Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2016
In 1935, after the mill closes in Little Bear Lake, Wisconsin, times are tough for the Johnson family, but Dad, egged on by oldest daughter Terpsichore, is determined to take advantage of President Roosevelt's program to send homesteaders to Alaska. Mother reluctantly agrees to try it until the first full harvest, a little over a year away. Upon their arrival in Palmer, Alaska, however, the project is so far behind schedule that the Johnsons don't even have their own tent to move into, let alone a house. The whole family works hard to get the farm and settlement up and going, particularly Terpsichore, whose seeds carried from Wisconsin start off their vegetable garden and whose idea for a library committee brings her her first two friends in Alaska, theatrical Gloria and bug-loving, know-it-all Mendel. If only Terpsichore can find a way to convince her mother to stay once the year is up! With conscious homage to Wilder's Little House books, Dagg evokes the same pioneering spirit in a Depression-era setting, lavishing attention on details about the homesteaders' food and housing and indicating to readers how the technology available to Terpsichore's family differs from Laura Ingalls's time and from the modern era. Like Wilder, Dagg gives her story a gently episodic shape, moving lightly among school events and holidays, but the plot touches frequently enough on the book's overarching elements to keep the momentum humming. anita l. burkam
(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)