Welcome to Litsy!

1. Yes, but that‘s mostly because I only have to shop for a few people. I still have to wrap everything, though. 😎
2. The main character in the tagged book helps out in her father‘s store, so there‘s some shopping involved. #two4tuesday

WHAT A TREASURE!!!! Chinese and Korean heritages are highlighted in this story set during the western expansion of US. Very rare. I know of only Laurence Yep for middle grade, but Park wanted to confront the absence and hatred of other cultures in the Little House books. #TeachEmpathyThroughLiterature #MiddleGradeMay @megnews

This was a wonderful story on its own, but it‘s also a perfect companion read alongside the Little House books. In 1880, Hanna is a half Chinese girl hoping for friends, education, and a future doing work that she loves. I appreciated the author‘s note about her own love for Wilder‘s books and this story as a response with another perspective.

#MiddleGrade #HistoricalFiction #audiobook #MiddleGradeMarchThroughTime 1880

I liked this, but I especially liked the author's explanation of why she wrote this book as it relates to the Little House on the Prairie books.

For some reason I really dislike the cover art on this one, I think because it looks too cartoon-y, and after reading it, I feel like the cover art makes it look like it's for a younger audience than it is. I would probably recommend it for around 6th grade.

#12AuthorsIn22 Day 10 Linda Sue Park
I have read A Single Shard last year for #middleGradeMarch. I would like to read another one this year.

At long last, I read Prairie Lotus — the book that‘s been most frequently recommended to me by guests and fans of my book podcast. It was the perfect choice for the third week of New Reads November 2021. My guest and i chat about everything from the inspiration for Prairie Lotus and the important ways in which it diverges from the Little House narrative to depictions of allyship and assault in kid lit. Link to listen in my bio!

This novel has all the things I love about the Little House books---frontier cooking, one-room schoolhouse, teenage rebellion and emotions, relationship challenges---with the addition of an open conversation about the racism often glossed over in Wilder's books. I am so grateful that my children are young enough still to experience both the Little House originals and Linda Sue Park's reimagining.

The tagged book made this afternoon's audiocooking and audiocleaning a pleasure. It's going too fast, though, and I might not have enough of the book left for tomorrow's dinner prep!

Meal is Classic Tuscan White Bean Soup from The Complete Plant-based Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen with a salad and a slice of GF sourdough toast (recipe said to put the toast in the bottom of the soup bowl, but I just dipped it).

2.5/5🌟
While this book was well-written, the emphasis on politically trending ideas left me bristling. I wouldn‘t want my children to read it.
#readtheusa2021 #southdakota

Post pandemic plans 😍

If you loved Laura Ingalls Wilder's series, but can't revisit the racism, this book is for you. Don't miss the author's note.

I'm fascinated by the history of education and the readers children used. I have an ancestor whose stories were featured in a few. My other obsession is genealogy.

I loved this book, great historical fiction, following a young Chinese girl in The Dakota Territory. Park‘s reconciliation of a love for Little House on the Prairie while growing up Asian in the Midwest.

1. We got one of those reversible woven cotton throws as a wedding gift. It‘s a little bedraggled now but still keeps me warm.
2. Just one? Among others, I want to read the tagged book because it‘s our December book club selection and it‘s was my suggestion.
#two4Tuesday

The current read aloud for my class. A nice antidote to the little house series.

1. I bought Prairie Lotus after seeing Linda Sue Park talk about it during virtual Gaithersburg book festival.
2. I especially like to listen to audiobooks while on a walk, but today I listened to drown out the orange one on TV in the other room.
3. Fire and Rain
#wondrouswednesday

This book reminded me how much I love Linda Sue Park💕💕

Hanna and her dad left LA after her Mom died, and settled in Dakota territory. Hanna is half Asian and her dad is white. It is Park‘s homage to the Little House books but in a more real and diverse way. The story works on so many levels 💗

“Should be our last day,” Papa said when they stopped to make camp.

#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

What. A. Week.
Lots of big important things cancelled due to Coronavirus (I live in Oregon). Which was the right thing to do and still hard.
Lots of extra work and a six day week because of Coronavirus. The library is still open regular hours, but libraries all over Oregon have closed.
And it was my birthday, which didn‘t feel like a birthday (see above).
And...we are good. We are healthy. And now work is over for a day and I‘m next to the fire.

There are so many things to love about this book. Hanna is a strong and determined protagonist. Though young, her perspective causes the reader to reevaluate what they know about history, society, and their own views and prejudices. Though historical fiction, it is still poignant and makes the reader look at how they treat others.

This book will be published in March 2020. Thank you to NetGallet for the ARC.

Hanna is a half Asian girl in the Heartland of America in the 1880‘s. She‘s new to town, and has to adjust to her new surroundings and with that comes to deal which means having to deal with the towns almost unanimous prejudice against Asians.