Reviews

A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky

kaylaarnold's review

4.0

4.5*
I enjoyed this much more than the My America Series; I thought it was written beautifully for a historical children's book, things were explained in greater detail but still interesting and heartbreaking with all the everyday struggles and deaths.

shannong's review

5.0

I read the entire Dear America series in elementary school and now I get to introduce these gems to my niece. Great intro to the historical fiction genre for young girls.

willwork4airfare's review

5.0

For some reason, I just love these stories. This one is weirdly slow-moving and includes many entries where very little happens at all. Large swaths of time pass between some entries and very many people die. Because they are written like diaries, many times these books don't have a solid conflict and resolution, and many events seem pointless or random, but something about the strange attempts at authenticity always get to me. I pretty much collect this series now and buy any installment I come across. I have no idea how historically accurate it actually is, but it makes for a fun, quick read and might be enough to spark interest in history for young readers.

trisha_thomas's review

3.0

Mother/daughter book club November
a great kids book about the pilgrims. It's even better when you know it's a true account of a 12 year old girl's diary. I can't wait to see what my daughter thinks of it.

oregon_small_fry's review

4.0

I really loved her name.

meghan's review

adventurous hopeful informative medium-paced

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

3.0

meganreads5's review

adventurous fast-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? No

4.0

zenithharpink's review

4.0

I was riveted by this book, and blazed through in it about an hour - I really wished it was longer. I'm not sure of the historical accuracy, but I loved the narrative, and felt like I was right there with "Mem." This really brought the adventure of the Mayflower pilgrims to life, and certainly makes it available for juvenile readers.

I recommend this all readers - I really enjoyed it when I first read it when I was younger, and I really enjoyed it the second time around.

clevergirl216's review

adventurous informative sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I usually like the Dear America books, but this one just didn't catch my interest. I felt like the characters were fairly flat.

jdalton's review against another edition

5.0

When I read this as a young girl I didn’t know I had ancestors who were on this ship, so reading this time was different for me and imagining what life was like for my ancestors.