Thursday, November 02, 2006
Little House on Rocky Ridge
by Roger Lea MacBride
Most of the time, sequels are annoying. They try to capture the appeal of the original work, but usually just end up being a lesser remix of the same elements. I tend not to have high expectations when I start reading a sequel. How much lower expectations I should have had for this book, which is the first book of a whole series of sequels to the Little House series. Fortunately, this is one of the rare cases when a sequel is worth reading.
Little House on Rocky Ridge is the first volume in the series that chronicles the childhood of Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. It picks up after the Little House series with the Wilder family leaving DeSmet, South Dakota in the middle of a drought and heading down to Missouri to try and build a better life there. In one sense, it is a rehash of the elder series in that there are many descriptions of daily life in the 1890's. In another sense, it's a new chapter in Laura's life, even though the focus of the book is on Rose's experiences and perceptions. I don't know whether Laura will continue to figure prominently in the series, or if she will fade to the background as Rose grows up and moves out on her own. But I intend to check it out and let you know. Both as a transition from the old series and an introduction to the new one, this book is well written and a pleasure to read.
LibraryThing link
Most of the time, sequels are annoying. They try to capture the appeal of the original work, but usually just end up being a lesser remix of the same elements. I tend not to have high expectations when I start reading a sequel. How much lower expectations I should have had for this book, which is the first book of a whole series of sequels to the Little House series. Fortunately, this is one of the rare cases when a sequel is worth reading.
Little House on Rocky Ridge is the first volume in the series that chronicles the childhood of Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter. It picks up after the Little House series with the Wilder family leaving DeSmet, South Dakota in the middle of a drought and heading down to Missouri to try and build a better life there. In one sense, it is a rehash of the elder series in that there are many descriptions of daily life in the 1890's. In another sense, it's a new chapter in Laura's life, even though the focus of the book is on Rose's experiences and perceptions. I don't know whether Laura will continue to figure prominently in the series, or if she will fade to the background as Rose grows up and moves out on her own. But I intend to check it out and let you know. Both as a transition from the old series and an introduction to the new one, this book is well written and a pleasure to read.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, RogerLeaMacBride
// posted by John @ 12:20 AM 
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