Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Hattie Big Sky
    Unavailable
    Hattie Big Sky
    Unavailable
    Hattie Big Sky
    Audiobook8 hours

    Hattie Big Sky

    Written by Kirby Larson

    Narrated by Kirsten Potter

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    This Newbery Honor winning, New York Times bestseller celebrates the true spirit of independence on the American frontier.

    For most of her life, sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has been shuttled from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she summons the courage to leave Iowa and move all by herself to Vida, Montana, to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim.
     
    Under the big sky, Hattie braves hard weather, hard times, a cantankerous cow, and her own hopeless hand at the cookstove. Her quest to make a home is championed by new neighbors Perilee Mueller, her German husband, and their children. For the first time in her life, Hattie feels part of a family, finding the strength to stand up against Traft Martin's schemes to buy her out and against increasing pressure to be a "loyal" American at a time when anything-or anyone-German is suspect. Despite daily trials, Hattie continues to work her uncle's claim until an unforeseen tragedy causes her to search her soul for the real meaning of home.
     
    This young pioneer's story is lovingly stitched together from Kirby Larson's own family history and the sights, sounds, and scents of homesteading life. 

    AN AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS
    A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK
    A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE
    NAMED TO 13 STATE AWARD LISTS

    "A marvelous story about courage, loyalty, perseverance, and the meaning of home." --Newbery Award-Winning Author Karen Cushman


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 10, 2007
    ISBN9780739355732
    Unavailable
    Hattie Big Sky
    Author

    Kirby Larson

    KIRBY LARSON is the acclaimed author of many books for children, including the 2007 Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky, The Magic Kerchief and other picture books. She lives in Kenmore, Washington. www.kirbylarson.com

    More audiobooks from Kirby Larson

    Related to Hattie Big Sky

    Related audiobooks

    YA Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Reviews for Hattie Big Sky

    4/5

    420 ratings54 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A good work of historical fiction with an unexpectedly strong ending.
    • 5/5
      A BOOK WRITTEN FOR YOUNG ADULTS, BUT INTERESTING AS WELL TO ADULTS. SET IN EASTERN MONTANA DURING EARLY SETTLER PERIOD. A YOUNG WOMAN INHERITS 320 ACRES OF LAND IN MONTANA THAT SHE MUST "PROVE UP". HER YEAR OF STRUGGLES AND HARDSHIPS ARE OFF SET WITH THE FRIENDSHIPS SHE ESTABLISHES. WHILE SHE LOSES THE FARM DUE TO HER CROPS BEING DESTROYED, SHE LEARNED VALUABLE LESSONS THAT CARRY HER WELL INTO THE FUTURE.
    • 3/5
      I loved this book, which chronicles Hattie's attempts to prove up a homesteading claim, right up until the rushed and seemingly hastily written ending. 90% of the book is just grand, the situations fascinating, the history accurate, the people compelling. The last bit is as annoying as standing in a shower when the hot water runs out.
    • 4/5
      I chose to read this book as part of a project to catch up with children's and young adult books by reading the Newbery Medal winners and honor books. It was an Honor Book in 2007. I was delighted to find that it gave me insight into some of my husband's family history, as well. Like the heroine, several of his family members homesteaded in Montana in the early years of the twentieth century. And his grandfather, a Danish-American Lutheran pastor, ran into some trouble in Iowa during World War I when wartime xenophobia forbade any public use of foreign languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish were proscribed along with German). Similar occurrences in Montana are a centerpiece of the book.

      Hattie, the protagonist, is an orphan who has been bounced from relative to relative all her life. She's ended up with a distant cousin, "Uncle" Holt, and his starchy wife, "Aunt" Ivy, in a small town in Iowa. Her best friend, Charlie, has enlisted and is fighting in France. Aunt Ivy wants her to quit high school and go to work as a chambermaid at a local boarding-house. Then a letter arrives, notifying her that her real uncle has died and left her to prove his claim in eastern Montana. Away she goes to a host of new experiences, some good and some bad. Fellow homesteaders and other residents of the area become friends and helpful neighbors, but there are problem people too. Hattie learns to deal with wolves, wild horses, drought, hail, and other hardships; helps deliver a baby and helps neighbors sick with the dread Spanish influenza. She writes letters home which end up giving her some income as they are published in the local paper in Iowa. The book does not have a typical happy ending, but it does end on a hopeful note. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I have no idea why it took me so long to read this, I've had a copy for years. Hattie is a strong, independent character and her struggles are realistic. It is a vivid description of the hardships of living in Montana. The secondary characters are also very interesting.
    • 4/5
      A young woman with basically nothing to lose takes off for Montana after inheriting a claim of 320 acres. She needs to make good on the claim by the next fall, which means cultivating at least 40 acres, fencing the whole thing, and surviving the freezing Montana winter and then the blazing summer. She makes a home for herself amongst her neighbors and struggles to do what she thinks is right to care for herself, her new friends, and her land.

      Light-hearted at times, but also with a healthy dose of dangerous prairie life, this book is a wonderful tale of growing up and making a spot of one's own.
    • 4/5
      This book was an unabashedly incredible look at homesteading during WWI. Hattie was a realistic character that seems to embody the idealized view of the American spirit. I especially love how the book did not glorify America's history or offer up a trite "happily ever after."
    • 4/5
      9th to 12 grade. Kirby Larson gives us a resourceful and adventurous heroine in the 2007 Newbery Honor book winner Hattie Big Sky. Hattie is an orphan living with an inhospitable relative, and so when she is presented with the opportunity of an inherited homestead claim in Montana, she seizes it. The year is 1918, but Hattie is works her Montana homestead like a pioneer and becomes a witness to the prejudiced actions committed to German immigrants during WWI. Hattie must use her nerve to publicly take sides with her German friends. There is a touch of romance as Hattie considers her friend who is a WWI solider romantically and a local young man. But Hattie's adventure is her own and isn't about to let a young man settle it for her. Deserving of its Newbery award, the well-written Hattie Big Sky will inspire teen readers with its portrayal of multi-faceted bravery. It is highly recommended for public and high school libraries. Hattie's spirit will linger in the minds of her readers.
    • 4/5
      Time and again, it seems that the books I fall in love with are the ones based on an author's own ancestral family history. Such is the case here, with Kirby Larson's story about sixteen-year-old Hattie 'here-and-there', as she calls herself, shuffled from relative to relative after she was orphaned. When she gets a letter from her uncle in Montana, willing her his homestead, she finally has a place of her own. This is the story of Hattie's hard work in securing her own place in the world, of her friendships, her successes and failures, of her lessons learned, and where it takes her as she becomes Hattie Big-Sky. This is a great young adult novel.
    • 4/5
      Sixteen year old Hattie has been shuffled from reluctant relative to relative ever since her parents died. So when her uncle dies and leaves her his homestead claim in Montana, Hattie jumps for the chance to be independent and become a real homesteader. There is plenty of hard work ahead in order to prove her claim. She must plant and harvest 40 acres, and put in a whole lot of fencing. She lives in her uncle's rickety shack and sets about with the work, and makes some good friends as well. Meanwhile World War I is raging in Europe and with letters to and from her childhood friend Charlie, this aspect of the historical mileu is brought into the story. Also, some of the townspeople seem to be prejudiced against people of German ancestry because of the war, and this is depicted as well. This is a very good young adult historical novel covering a period that does not get a whole lot of attention. It shows how difficult homesteading could be, especially for a single woman. It highlights the value of friendships and hard work.
    • 4/5
      This book is an old-fashioned tale with a little bit of everything. Adventure, romance, survival, prejudice, and friendship. Interesting information about the way Americans reacted to citizens with a German background during WWI.
    • 5/5
      A 16-year-old orphan sets out to settle her uncle's homestead claim in Montana at the time of World War I. She encounters the typical hardships of homesteading and encounters prejudice against her German immigrant neighbors. The author was inspired by her own great-grandmother's life to write this book. An excellent read!
    • 4/5
      Hattie, orphaned and farmed out to various relatives, is just about to be forced to leave school and take up tedious work at a local store when she learns she has inherited a 320 acre farm. The farm is not without conditions, however. Hattie is required by the terms of the homesteading agreement to fence the land and plant a crop. She soon learns it will take real gumption just to survive the bleak Montana winter. A community of other homesteaders helps Hattie as she tries to make it in a small cabin through the freezing winter. Newbery Honor.
    • 5/5
      Hattie Brooks is an orphan. In 1918, when she is 16, she inherits a lonely Montana homestead from her uncle. After many years of being dependent on the charity of relatives who aren't all that happy to take her in, Hattie is overjoyed at the prospect of having a home where she belongs and that belongs to her. Her optimism does not prepare her for the hardships she will face as a young woman, alone, desperately trying to survive the harsh realities of a homesteader's life. Hattie's voice is engaging and the first-person narration works beautifully. Hattie's story is based on some real-life events, including some parts based on the life of the author's great-grandmother.Don't let the boring cover fool you! This is a marvelous book that anyone who enjoys historical fiction or survival stories will enjoy.
    • 5/5
      very good historical realistic fiction book about a girl who is 16 and takes over her dead uncles farm in Montana
    • 4/5
      This book about a 16 year old homesteader was amazingly readable. I picked it up, meaning to skim, and by the end of the day I'd squeezed in enough spare moments to have it finished. Reads like a combination of "Little House on the Prarie" books and maybe "To Kill a Mockingbird." Hattie is an orphan who inherits a homestead in Montana - the year is 1919 and World War I is in full swing. Hattie is faced wwith the rigors of living and working rough, unforgiving terrain - duties much more suited to an older person. She also deals with growing-up issues like zenophobia and is forced to examine and define her morals. There's a lot of God in this book, and it's 100% clean - appropriate for young middle schoolers and older elementary school kids. SPOILER --> death of a child in the book, so if your reader is sensitive, take that into consideration.
    • 4/5
      Carted around from one distant family member to the next since her parents death when she was young, Hattie has never had a home to call her own. Then, one day she receives a letter from a long lost Uncle who has left her his claim in the wild Montana territory. Hattie has 10 months to "prove up" on her claim which means a whole lot of back-breaking work, and the strength to continue on even when times seem like they are never going to get better. A solid historical fiction novel with a strong female lead that'll be an inspiration to anyone who has ever had to take on monumental tasks that didn't seem possible.
    • 4/5
      I don't remember who recommended this one to me, but thank you! I loved this story of Hattie Brooks, an orphan who has never had a real home of her own. She finds out that her uncle, whom she has never met, has left her his homestead in Montana in his will. If she can meet the requirements, the land is hers.The trouble is that she has only 10 months to do it, and most of it by herself. The requirements are pretty tough, but Hattie figures with a good year, she just might have a place to call home.I loved Hattie. She was a great character and I really enjoyed her take on life. Although she faced a lot of tough situations, she wasn't one to sit and feel sorry for herself. This was such a fun book to read and I'm so glad I heard of it.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful Read. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
    • 3/5
      Hattie is such a determined, warm young woman. I also loved so many of the people who help her as she tries to prove her uncle's homestead by herself. She is part of the migration of farmers to the northern plains that was doomed by weather and other calamities.
    • 5/5
      This book receives my highest review in it's ability to provoke the thinking of young people who read it. It is commonplace, anymore, for young people to take so much for granted, particularly in America where we have everything. I love to ask students how they would fare if they faced living alone in a tiny shack in the middle of nowhere Montana in the dead of winter (65 degrees below zero), with no running water, no plumbing, no electricity, no television, no radio, no cell phones, no people, a bit of food, and the company of a few barn animals to tend regularly. It's such an intriguing story. Very well told, very deserving of the California Young Reader Medal nomination.
    • 4/5
      Very good book. Excellent feel for what it was like to survive on your own in the rural homestead environment out west. Great descriptive work, I can still see passages as if I was there.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this book on Audio tape. It is a deligtful book and excellent historical fiction. It shows both the tough life of homesteading in the early 1900's and the hardship of the first World War both on the solidiers and the people at home of German heritage. I was totally entranced by the story. Call me sentimental but I loved this book until the ending. The authors choice to not have the woman keep the farm was really disheartening and I could not see the point especially when it was based on her grandmother who did "prove up." I also didn't believe the family that gave up their farm and left. Like I said call me sentimental.This book would be excellent to use with a US History class either excerpts or the whole book. It is an excellent recording.
    • 5/5
      Tired of moving from obscure relative to obscure relative in the early 1910s, 16 year-old Hattie gets the chance of a lifetime when a letter arrives from her dying uncle saying she can have his 320 (?) acres in eastern Montana. All she has to do is finish proving up on his claim, and the land is all hers. Life on the norther prarie isn't easy, as she finds out. But with the help of good-natured neighbors, she discovers who she really is.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful story. Follows 16 yr old Hattie Brooks on a journey in finding courage, loyalty, perseverance, and the meaning of home.
    • 3/5
      It was a very good book. Characters were believable. Thought the letters were distracting. Enjoyed the main story more.
    • 5/5
      Hattie Big Sky is the story of sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks, who has been shuffled from one relative's home to another for years. When her uncle leaves her his homestead claim in Montana, she decides it's time to make a home for herself. Her new neighbors include a family with a German father, who help her settle in and work on the claim. But World War I is raging in Europe and the other families in the area are suspicious of anyone with ties to the enemy -- Germany.Hattie struggles to prove up on her land and stand up to the intolerant locals who can't see that Mr. Mueller is a good man despite his nationality. This is a wonderful book full of descriptions of the prairie, the hardships of pioneer life, and the joys of friendship and family. Though the ending is bittersweet, I truly enjoyed this book.
    • 4/5
      Gr 6-8-Larson relates a heartwarming yet poignant story about homesteading in early-20th-century Montana. Until the age of 16, orphan Hattie Brooks lived with whichever relative needed extra household help. Then she receives a letter telling her of an inheritance from her Uncle Chester, whom she had never met. Hattie is to receive his land claim, the house and its contents, one horse, and one cow. When she arrives from Iowa, she learns that she has 10 months to cultivate 40 acres and set 480 rods of fence, or lose the claim. While the story relates the hardships of frontier life and how Hattie "proved up" to the challenge, it also tells of World War I bigotry and discrimination toward German Americans. Hattie's sense of humor, determination, and optimism come through in her letters to her friend Charlie, who is serving in the military in France, and through letters to her Uncle Holt, which are published in his hometown newspaper. Larson's vivid descriptions of the harshness of the work and the extreme climates, and the strength that comes from true friendship, create a masterful picture of the homesteading experience and the people who persevered. Hattie's courage and fortitude are a tribute to them.
    • 4/5
      In 1918, sixteen-year-old orphan, Hattie Inez Brooks, finds her life completely changed when she learns that her estranged uncle hasdied and left her his 320-acre, Montana farm. Having to meet the condition that the farm be cultivated within one year, Hattie isfaced with an intense challenge which involves surviving a wicked Montana winter, protecting her farm from the cruelties of nature,and facing the Spanish influenza which whips through the village. This is a story beautifully told through first-person narrative aswell as through letters to an uncle and good friend serving in the war. Readers will get a vivid glimpse into the mood of Americanstowards the war effort and the anti-German sentiment which many held. The author includes an interesting end note which explainsher inspiration for the story and the parallels she found with the present Iraq war
    • 5/5
      Great Book! Hattie Brooks is a 16 year old orphan who iherits a Montana farm from her Uncle. She has 10 months to plow and plant 40 acres, and put up 520 rails of fencing around her property. Hattie has no money, no family, and World War 1 is raging in Europe.