Racing Home

April 1, 2011

A deliberate look at Norwegian immigrants on the Canadian prairie recalls Sarah, Plain and Tall for a slightly older audience. When 12-year-old Erik's mother remarries, she promises him that they'll stay close to his grandparent's Norwegian farm. Instead, within a year, Erik's taciturn stepfather, Rolf, has taken them first to Minnesota and then to the wilds of Saskatchewan, ostensibly in search of his brother, Lars. Erik dislikes Rolf and feels uncomfortable on the flat Western prairies, so different from home, but he loves farming and he works hard to help Rolf build a new home. Soon Erik discovers what Rolf told his mother but not him—he has a son from his first marriage, raised by his brother after Rolf's wife died, and it's really Olaf, now nearly grown, that Rolf traveled all this way to see. Olaf resents Rolf and seems to be headed for trouble, and Rolf seems uncomfortable around him, but as the year progresses so do the characters. Erik comes to admire Rolf's hard work and persistence and Olaf's generosity; they begin, slowly, to feel like a family. A subplot about thieving cowboys and a horse race doesn't add much to the story, but it doesn't hinder it, either. This tale draws its grace from the fine, detailed portrait of immigrants making their way in a new world. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2011
Grades 5-7 Although 12-year-old Erik had always planned to become a farmer, he hadnt foreseen his mothers remarriage to Rolf or his stepfathers decision to move the family from Norway to North America. In 1908, they join Rolfs brother and his family in a new Saskatchewan settlement, where they start their own farm. From building a sod house to digging a well, nothing is easy, but the physical work is less complex than working out a relationship with Rolfs son, Olaf, who has always lived with his uncle and aunt. Dueck weaves information about prairie settlers in the early 1900s into vivid scenes of trapping, fishing, and working on the farm; Eriks shifting feelings about his stepfather and stepbrother; and a less involving subplot about horse thieves. Eriks and Olafs personal situations and their ambivalence toward each other are well drawn and subtly contrasted. This Canadian novel dovetails neatly with American stories of pioneer life on the prairies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2011

A deliberate look at Norwegian immigrants on the Canadian prairie recalls Sarah, Plain and Tall for a slightly older audience. When 12-year-old Erik's mother remarries, she promises him that they'll stay close to his grandparent's Norwegian farm. Instead, within a year, Erik's taciturn stepfather, Rolf, has taken them first to Minnesota and then to the wilds of Saskatchewan, ostensibly in search of his brother, Lars. Erik dislikes Rolf and feels uncomfortable on the flat Western prairies, so different from home, but he loves farming and he works hard to help Rolf build a new home. Soon Erik discovers what Rolf told his mother but not him--he has a son from his first marriage, raised by his brother after Rolf's wife died, and it's really Olaf, now nearly grown, that Rolf traveled all this way to see. Olaf resents Rolf and seems to be headed for trouble, and Rolf seems uncomfortable around him, but as the year progresses so do the characters. Erik comes to admire Rolf's hard work and persistence and Olaf's generosity; they begin, slowly, to feel like a family. A subplot about thieving cowboys and a horse race doesn't add much to the story, but it doesn't hinder it, either. This tale draws its grace from the fine, detailed portrait of immigrants making their way in a new world. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)