Hattie Big Sky

Hattie Big Sky

by Kirby Larson (2006)

Newbery Honor Book

Having a soft spot for Laura Ingalls Wilder, this book fits right in, minus Michael Landon as Pa. A girl on her own on a Montana homestead facing extreme weather, diabolical neighbors, stubborn animals, poor baking skills, and the struggle to fence and farm her land in order to meet the claim.

Hattie is definitely independent and capable, but needs and helps her neighbors as they face the harshness of frontier life. The story also deals with the fears of "The Great War" as friends and family are in Europe fighting and the pressure put on German townsfolk to prove their patriotism. A lot of outside issues to explore with this book: WWI, propaganda, farm life, even baseball.

Leviathan

Leviathan

by Scott Westerfeld (2009)

An adventurous, thought-provoking, historical, steampunk re-imagining of the causes and beginnings of The Great War.  Moving back and forth between the machine-based "Clankers" and the DNA-manipulating "Darwinists" until the two main characters collide, Westerfeld creates quite an amazing world of 8-legged tanks, flying whales, and young people caught up in a Europe on the brink of war.  Great illustrations, old fashioned pen & ink, and a lot of invented vocabulary.

Good for many discussions, including reasons for war, loyalty, evolution, decisions that alter history, gender roles...

Of course, there is more to the story that goes unresolved than not, as this is surely part of a planned... trilogy? hexology? octology?  


I used the "sex" tag only due to the references, early, few and not dwelt on, to what our hero(ine) must hide, and is glad she does not have ample of, in order to pose as a boy.  I suppose most 4-5th graders could understand and handle it, but ya never know...