Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Bachelor Girl
by Roger Lea MacBride
This last volume of Little House: The Rose Years sees Rose Wilder truly on her own. She returns home to her parents' farm after her high school graduation and year in Louisiana. Life is relatively comfortable, but boring. She's in love, but her beau has yet to propose--he's trying to make a good enough living as a telegraph operator to support both a wife and his widowed mother. When he lands a job in Sacramento, California, Rose is despondent. She finally acts on an old idea of learning telegraphy herself. With her parents' help, she heads off to Kansas City to a telegraphy school. From there she struggles to overcome various challenges to make a new life for itself. It's an interesting tale, one worth checking out, though I didn't find it a very satisfying one. The book tries to make a connection between Rose's experience and the pioneer heritage of her parents and grandparents. While I concede that there is a connection, it seems more like she's trading in the pioneer values so prevalent in the previous books for ones that are more urban and 20th Century. Maybe I can't appreciate it because the series is starting to move from a setting that is, for me, a fantasy to one that is all too familiar and real. Or maybe it's because I've read Rose Wilder Lane's biography and know that Bachelor Girl's happy ending is still many years away from "happily ever after".
LibraryThing link
This last volume of Little House: The Rose Years sees Rose Wilder truly on her own. She returns home to her parents' farm after her high school graduation and year in Louisiana. Life is relatively comfortable, but boring. She's in love, but her beau has yet to propose--he's trying to make a good enough living as a telegraph operator to support both a wife and his widowed mother. When he lands a job in Sacramento, California, Rose is despondent. She finally acts on an old idea of learning telegraphy herself. With her parents' help, she heads off to Kansas City to a telegraphy school. From there she struggles to overcome various challenges to make a new life for itself. It's an interesting tale, one worth checking out, though I didn't find it a very satisfying one. The book tries to make a connection between Rose's experience and the pioneer heritage of her parents and grandparents. While I concede that there is a connection, it seems more like she's trading in the pioneer values so prevalent in the previous books for ones that are more urban and 20th Century. Maybe I can't appreciate it because the series is starting to move from a setting that is, for me, a fantasy to one that is all too familiar and real. Or maybe it's because I've read Rose Wilder Lane's biography and know that Bachelor Girl's happy ending is still many years away from "happily ever after".
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, RogerLeaMacBride
Monday, November 13, 2006
On the Banks of the Bayou
by Roger Lea MacBride
In the seventh volume of Little House: The Rose Years, Rose Wilder spreads her wings and spends a school year with her aunt down in Crowley, Louisiana. Those months serve to expand her social consciousness as she experiences life in a bigger city, with different types of people. On one hand, I missed all of the familiar and lovable characters from the previous books. Part of me mourned as Rose drifted away from her parents' values and lifestyles. But on the other hand, I am a child of the 20th Century. I can relate to many of her feelings. And there's the pure fun of exploring life in Louisiana through Rose's eyes. This one's a volume to check out even if you haven't been following the series.
LibraryThing link
In the seventh volume of Little House: The Rose Years, Rose Wilder spreads her wings and spends a school year with her aunt down in Crowley, Louisiana. Those months serve to expand her social consciousness as she experiences life in a bigger city, with different types of people. On one hand, I missed all of the familiar and lovable characters from the previous books. Part of me mourned as Rose drifted away from her parents' values and lifestyles. But on the other hand, I am a child of the 20th Century. I can relate to many of her feelings. And there's the pure fun of exploring life in Louisiana through Rose's eyes. This one's a volume to check out even if you haven't been following the series.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, RogerLeaMacBride
Saturday, November 11, 2006
New Dawn on Rocky Ridge
by Roger Lea MacBride
I have mixed feelings about this book, the sixth volume of Little House: The Rose Years series. (It used to be called The Rocky Ridge years until they decided to make the Little House spin-offs span five generations.) In it our heroine, Rose Wilder, becomes a teenager. She's moody, rebellious, and generally not as lovable as the Rose of years gone by. The minor characters have also changed. You see less of the friends and neighbors from Rocky Ridge farm and more of the townfolk of Mansfield, Missouri. The town seems to have a greater percentage of jerks than the surrounding countryside. On the plus side, Rose steps aside for a couple of chapters as the story follows her mother Laura (confusingly called Mama) as she travels back to South Dakota to visit her parents and sisters. Technically, it's bad storytelling to change the focus like that. But since my interest in the series stems from my enjoyment of the original Little House books, the two chapter departure only seems good and right. Anyway, when one follows a series, you have to be a bit more tolerant of volumes that aren't quite as good as the rest, so I'd have to advise folks to check this one out.
LibraryThing link
I have mixed feelings about this book, the sixth volume of Little House: The Rose Years series. (It used to be called The Rocky Ridge years until they decided to make the Little House spin-offs span five generations.) In it our heroine, Rose Wilder, becomes a teenager. She's moody, rebellious, and generally not as lovable as the Rose of years gone by. The minor characters have also changed. You see less of the friends and neighbors from Rocky Ridge farm and more of the townfolk of Mansfield, Missouri. The town seems to have a greater percentage of jerks than the surrounding countryside. On the plus side, Rose steps aside for a couple of chapters as the story follows her mother Laura (confusingly called Mama) as she travels back to South Dakota to visit her parents and sisters. Technically, it's bad storytelling to change the focus like that. But since my interest in the series stems from my enjoyment of the original Little House books, the two chapter departure only seems good and right. Anyway, when one follows a series, you have to be a bit more tolerant of volumes that aren't quite as good as the rest, so I'd have to advise folks to check this one out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, RogerLeaMacBride
Friday, November 10, 2006
Little Town in the Ozarks
by Roger Lea MacBride
In this fifth volume of the set, The Rocky Ridge series seems to take a turn. Storywise, Rose Wilder and her family are forced by a poor harvest and pressing bills to move from their farm to a house in the town of Mansfield, Missouri. It's an adjustment for the family as they experience the joys and burdens of "city" life. But the book also has a healthy dose of political commentary as the Wilders and their neighbors react to and comment on the Spanish-American war. It's a marked change from the original Little House books which seem totally centered around the Ingalls family's life and immediate surroundings. It's also a lesser departure from the earlier Rocky Ridge books, which were somewhat centered on the farm. Why this change occurs, I don't know. It could be due to the fact that the author, Roger Lea MacBride, died before completing the manuscripts for this and the subsequent three volumes of the series. Perhaps either his ghost writers injected the political slant into the series or they failed to edit out political comments that Mr. MacBride had always put into his rough drafts. Or it could be that Mr. MacBride is trying to reflect the times at the turn of the 20th Century, when the telegraph and improved transportation brought the outside world a bit closer to mid-America. Or maybe it's just an honest depiction of Rose Wilder's own awakening social conscience. Whatever the reason, it doesn't make the book bad, just different from its predecessors. The Wilders and their neighbors are still the same admirable characters and it's still interesting to see what happens next. Check it out.
LibraryThing link
In this fifth volume of the set, The Rocky Ridge series seems to take a turn. Storywise, Rose Wilder and her family are forced by a poor harvest and pressing bills to move from their farm to a house in the town of Mansfield, Missouri. It's an adjustment for the family as they experience the joys and burdens of "city" life. But the book also has a healthy dose of political commentary as the Wilders and their neighbors react to and comment on the Spanish-American war. It's a marked change from the original Little House books which seem totally centered around the Ingalls family's life and immediate surroundings. It's also a lesser departure from the earlier Rocky Ridge books, which were somewhat centered on the farm. Why this change occurs, I don't know. It could be due to the fact that the author, Roger Lea MacBride, died before completing the manuscripts for this and the subsequent three volumes of the series. Perhaps either his ghost writers injected the political slant into the series or they failed to edit out political comments that Mr. MacBride had always put into his rough drafts. Or it could be that Mr. MacBride is trying to reflect the times at the turn of the 20th Century, when the telegraph and improved transportation brought the outside world a bit closer to mid-America. Or maybe it's just an honest depiction of Rose Wilder's own awakening social conscience. Whatever the reason, it doesn't make the book bad, just different from its predecessors. The Wilders and their neighbors are still the same admirable characters and it's still interesting to see what happens next. Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, RogerLeaMacBride
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
On the Other Side of the Hill
by Roger Lea MacBride
(For some reason the Rainmakers' song "The Other Side of the World" has been running through my head ever since I picked up this book.) This is the fourth book of The Rocky Ridge Years series, chronicling the life of Rose Wilder in the 1890's. It's another book that's enjoyable to read, though not compelling. It's good waiting room material. Reading a straightforward biography of Rose Wilder Lane might be quicker than reading through this series, but I think this way is a lot more fun.
LibraryThing link
(For some reason the Rainmakers' song "The Other Side of the World" has been running through my head ever since I picked up this book.) This is the fourth book of The Rocky Ridge Years series, chronicling the life of Rose Wilder in the 1890's. It's another book that's enjoyable to read, though not compelling. It's good waiting room material. Reading a straightforward biography of Rose Wilder Lane might be quicker than reading through this series, but I think this way is a lot more fun.
LibraryThing link
Labels: RogerLeaMacBride, WaitingRoomMaterial
Monday, November 06, 2006
In the Land of the Big Red Apple
by Roger Lea MacBride
With a title like that, you'd think this book was some sort of fantasy novel, maybe one where a kid falls into a world of good nutrition or something. Well, it's not. Instead, this is the 3rd volume of the Little House: The Rocky Ridge Years series. The story of the Wilder family continues, describing life on their farm in the Ozarks and the events in their lives. It's enjoyable reading, though nothing outstanding. One thing I noticed in this one is some of the subtle differences between Mr. MacBride's storytelling and Laura Ingalls Wilder's. The Rocky Ridge Years tends to read a bit less sheltered than the original Little House series. Rose's crush in this volume and the jealousy that accompanies it is played out a bit more than a similar event in Laura's life might have. There's also a better sense of historical context. While reading the Little House series, I couldn't have told you when the events occurred other than sometime in the 19th Century. (Well, save for the few times when a date is mentioned.) In Apple, you have scenes where the Wilders--children of staunch unionists--refrain from joining their Missourian neighbors in singing "Dixie" and where the town folks send campaigners for William McKinley on their way with some Democrat hospitality. Anyway, it's certainly worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
With a title like that, you'd think this book was some sort of fantasy novel, maybe one where a kid falls into a world of good nutrition or something. Well, it's not. Instead, this is the 3rd volume of the Little House: The Rocky Ridge Years series. The story of the Wilder family continues, describing life on their farm in the Ozarks and the events in their lives. It's enjoyable reading, though nothing outstanding. One thing I noticed in this one is some of the subtle differences between Mr. MacBride's storytelling and Laura Ingalls Wilder's. The Rocky Ridge Years tends to read a bit less sheltered than the original Little House series. Rose's crush in this volume and the jealousy that accompanies it is played out a bit more than a similar event in Laura's life might have. There's also a better sense of historical context. While reading the Little House series, I couldn't have told you when the events occurred other than sometime in the 19th Century. (Well, save for the few times when a date is mentioned.) In Apple, you have scenes where the Wilders--children of staunch unionists--refrain from joining their Missourian neighbors in singing "Dixie" and where the town folks send campaigners for William McKinley on their way with some Democrat hospitality. Anyway, it's certainly worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, RogerLeaMacBride
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Little Farm in the Ozarks
by Roger Lea MacBride
This is the second volume of the Little House: The Rocky Ridge Years series, telling the tale of Rose Wilder, the daughter of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Essentially it's more of the same--a peek into the life of folks trying to eke out a living by farming in Missouri in the 1890's. It's enjoyable reading--excellent waiting room material--but there's nothing that compels one's readership.
LibraryThing link
This is the second volume of the Little House: The Rocky Ridge Years series, telling the tale of Rose Wilder, the daughter of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Essentially it's more of the same--a peek into the life of folks trying to eke out a living by farming in Missouri in the 1890's. It's enjoyable reading--excellent waiting room material--but there's nothing that compels one's readership.
LibraryThing link
Labels: RogerLeaMacBride, WaitingRoomMaterial
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
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