Product Description

It's 1893 and Rose and her parents, Laura and Almanzo, are moving to Missouri, the land of the Big Red Apple! They say good-bye to Ma and Pa Ingalls and Laura's sisters, and set off on an exciting journey.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #771000 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From Publishers Weekly
MacBride, the sole heir of Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter Rose Wilder Lane, delivers the first installment of his faithfully minded series sequel to the hallowed Little House books. As it opens, Laura, husband Almanzo and seven-year-old Rose embark on what will be a final migration, from South Dakota to Missouri. Pieced in part from Rose's written account of that trip, interviews with contemporaries and historians, and other research, the story centers on Rose's adventures and scrapes, and, like its models, pays tribute to the strength and security of a close family. But while pains have clearly been taken to ensure the book's authenticity and while the book is entertaining, it lacks the magic of the originals. MacBride simply does not have Laura Ingalls Wilder's understanding of girlhood, nor does he share her remarkable sense for the memorable detail. Although he endows Rose with her mother's quick mind and lively, determined nature, she is never as fully human as the fictional Laura. That Laura, here known as Bess (the name Almanzo used for her), becomes a distant figure, an industrious, Bible-loving wise woman who cares what the neighbors think of her housekeeping. MacBride and his publisher deserve complements for their integrity, however, and many young Little House fans will be grateful for their efforts. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 3-6. A sequel to Little House on Rocky Ridge (1993), the second entry in the Rocky Ridge Years series follows the Wilders through their first spring and summer living near Mansfield, Missouri. Papa Almanzo hires a young orphan to help with the farm work; Mama Bess (Laura) worries about family finances and nearly refuses a beautiful new stove purchased for her by Almanzo; and eight-year-old Rose becomes a champion speller and makes a friend. Told from Rose's point of view, the story begins to reveal personality traits that emerge from Wilder's and Lane's real-life diaries--the quiet Almanzo, a hardworking farmer who would do almost anything to please his wife and daughter; the industrious Laura, a woman whose hard-line devotion to the bottom line sometimes interfered with family harmony; and their talented (if somewhat spoiled) Rose, an only child who was not above bending the rules if it suited her purposes. Although based on real events, MacBride's work is fiction (in one curious discrepancy, Rose wonders about her baby brother, who died as an infant; most Wilder/Lane scholars feel that Rose was unaware of her parents' loss even when she later suffered a miscarriage). While this story is somewhat less focused than the earlier one, MacBride adds some fascinating new chapters to a saga that will appeal to Little House fans. Kay Weisman

From Kirkus Reviews
Rose Wilder Lane's sole heir draws on family papers, Lane's published works, stories she told, and historical research to extend her mother's fictionalized family history into the next generation. Rose was ten in 1894 when Laura and Almanzo left their failed South Dakota farm for Missouri. MacBride recounts their journey, with four horses but few other possessions, and their purchase of a farm with forested land almost too rocky to plow and saplings yet to be planted for an orchard. By winter, they encounter strange new animals, cope with financial hurdles, and discover friendly neighbors; the book concludes with a barn- raising. MacBride emulates Wilder's style with some success, dwelling on similar concerns (the comfortable balance between a child's good behavior and a lively independence of mind) and details (especially of the land itself, and of making a cozy home with very little), choosing incidents of intrinsic interest as well as period authenticity. His characterizations aren't as rich as Laura's; there's no docile sister as a foil for Rose, as Mary was for Laura. Interestingly, Laura herself is best realized here, courageous but not indefatigable, with more doubts than Ma ever revealed. The author's careful prose doesn't match Wilder's elegant, artless-seeming simplicity; omitting some of the less telling details and phrases would have tightened the long text. Still, a fine continuation of the beloved chronicle, in similar attractive format (including quietly evocative soft-pencil illustrations of places and things). First printing of 100,000. (Fiction. 7-12) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.