Reviews

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kristiana Gregory

bookworm87's review against another edition

adventurous sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

heather_19's review against another edition

3.0

I loved these books when I was in elementary and middle school and it was great to revisit one!

steph01924's review against another edition

5.0

This was one of my favorite of the series. The only ones I ever bought were this and the Titanic diary because I would read them over and over.

Hattie was just an awesome character and she had a great life-story, complete with a sweet romance that my young self loved.

The Oregon Trail always fascinated me and I would definitely recommend this to anyone's kid who is learning about this piece of US history.

llama_lord's review against another edition

5.0

This was one of my favorite books when I was in elementary school. This was the first Dear America book I read and it made me fall in love with the series (as it did with pretty much every other girl in my 5th grade class). Not only that, it introduced me to historical fiction which is now undoubtedly my favorite genre. Basically, this book will always have a special place in my heart.

Of course when I was 10 I thought this book was perfect. It was gritty and heartbreaking and it made me feel very grown up. Reading it as an adult, it was a little less perfect. Some parts of it were a little overdramatic, and some parts of it were maybe a little contrived. But I still really enjoyed it. It's an exciting, thought provoking book with a very relatable protagonist in Hattie. This is a wonderful book that I would recommend to practically everyone.

katiemulcahy122's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I don't think I actually played the Oregon Trail game, but I did read this book countless times and listening to it was a wild trip down memory lane. I was obsessed with the Dear America series in elementary school, but this is definitely the one that instilled a fear in me of drowning in rivers, eating unknown plants, and Mormons. 

carolineinthelibrary's review against another edition

4.0

My quest to re-read all of the Dear America books continues...

This was a pretty good DA book! Hattie is a fairly likeable character and there are some valuable lessons learned throughout. This is definitely one of the sadder DA books, lots of death and disease, but such was the Oregon Trail.

naerwen17's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

toomuchsky's review against another edition

3.75

I read this book when I was a kid and remembered that these Dear America books existed during the pandemic. I wanted to see if they stood the test of time and it kind of did? I enjoyed it more than I thought the second time around as an adult.  

lee_hillshire's review against another edition

I appreciate where these books lean into realism that open conversations in an age-appropriate and approachable way. Sometimes uncomfy by modern standards, but if we water down our history, we're never going to learn the right lessons from it.

ablounger926's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0