First sentence: "Look, Carl Erik," said Jonas, "the streets of America are not paved with gold."
Premise/plot: The Long Way Westward follows a Swedish immigrant family as they travel across parts of the United States to reach their new home in Minnesota. Their travel involves a lot of TRAINS. The immigrant experience of the late nineteenth century is captured quite well in this early chapter book.
My thoughts: It is so nice to have stumbled across historical fiction for the youngest of readers. Historical fiction was probably my first true genre to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. And I think I would have really enjoyed this one if I'd read it as a kid. As an adult, I can still appreciate it and recommend it to teachers, parents, and grandparents to share with young readers in their lives.
© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
A very good article. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAs a former teacher it is good to see interesting books for young readers. When I was little I just about made my way through our town's small library. There were quite a few books for very young readers, but those in the middle didn't have much to choose from. - Margy
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