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Reviews
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky
jupton720's review
4.0
While going through some of my stuff at my parents home, I found this book. I remember it being the first book in the Dear America series (a great series to introduce girls to important events in American history). While the language and events in the book are not entirely accurate, it's a good introduction to teaching young girls about the Mayflower and the history of the Pilgrims. Not unlike the American Girls series, these books can be used as a great teaching tool, and a way to get girls interested in history (and historical fiction as well). I especially like the notes and historical illustrations they have at the back of the book. I hope that the publishers are continuing with this series.
softspothardcover's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
lesbipain's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
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
4.25
the first dear america book i read as a child!! not my favorite. remember was a good character and i think kathryn lasky perfectly encapsulated how such a young child would react to certain situations. still, it felt like it was lacking something
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
adoubledareaway's review
3.0
Maybe it's the time period, or maybe the narrator was just too young for me to really connect to, but this one was just okay for me. There were parts of the story that were interesting, but most of it feel a little flat. Maybe I just expected too much from it. Still, I really like this series overall, it's one of my favorites from when I was younger and I'm excited to continue on with it.
dianaf's review
3.0
It's appropriate for an elementary student learning about the Mayflower and Pilgrims. Decently educational, but could come off as a bit boring and redundant.
peytonktracy's review
2.0
This review comes in two parts. The first is on this book exclusively, and the second is in context of other Dear America books.
First, I appreciated that the narrator, Mem, did come across as a child and wrote about things children would be concerned about, even if they were in as dire a situation as one of the pilgrims sailing on the Mayflower and settling in that first devastating winter in Plimoth Colony. But I also appreciated that there were big emotions in this book surrounding the loss that all the pilgrims experienced, because children experience those big emotions too. However, this felt a little like a Thanksgiving pageant in that there were a lot of moments that I feel like would not have been of note or recorded, like the landing at Plimoth Rock, but were documented just for the sake of including it since it's so famous? Mem would have had no idea that that landing would "go down in history" like she wrote about. And finally, I just ended up having a lot of complex emotions around this book with the more modern context around the pilgrim's colonization and interactions with the Native Americans so it was just hard to enjoy and take it for the positive light it was put in.
In context of the rest of the series, I think this book could have been better. As one of the first three published in the series, I give it some leeway since later books really showed the full potential for diving into history, ups, downs, difficulties and complexities and everything in between, in this format for middle readers. This just felt kind of simplistic and unnuanced when I think this story could be full of complexity of emotion and nuance. I just wanted more from it, I guess, knowing what it could be relative to other book sin this series.
First, I appreciated that the narrator, Mem, did come across as a child and wrote about things children would be concerned about, even if they were in as dire a situation as one of the pilgrims sailing on the Mayflower and settling in that first devastating winter in Plimoth Colony. But I also appreciated that there were big emotions in this book surrounding the loss that all the pilgrims experienced, because children experience those big emotions too. However, this felt a little like a Thanksgiving pageant in that there were a lot of moments that I feel like would not have been of note or recorded, like the landing at Plimoth Rock, but were documented just for the sake of including it since it's so famous? Mem would have had no idea that that landing would "go down in history" like she wrote about. And finally, I just ended up having a lot of complex emotions around this book with the more modern context around the pilgrim's colonization and interactions with the Native Americans so it was just hard to enjoy and take it for the positive light it was put in.
In context of the rest of the series, I think this book could have been better. As one of the first three published in the series, I give it some leeway since later books really showed the full potential for diving into history, ups, downs, difficulties and complexities and everything in between, in this format for middle readers. This just felt kind of simplistic and unnuanced when I think this story could be full of complexity of emotion and nuance. I just wanted more from it, I guess, knowing what it could be relative to other book sin this series.
nimrodiel's review
4.0
This is a really great look at the Pilgrims travels to America and the founding of the Plimouth settlement as seen through the eyes of a twelve year old girl. The author has done a good job of sharing the historical facts, and happenings in a way that makes the pilgrim's new life an aproachable and interesting thing to learn more about.
See where this book goes next, at: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5623316
See where this book goes next, at: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5623316
tsilverman's review
4.0
A good start to the series (at least in chronological order, if not published order). I did enjoy her journal, though it felt like most of the action happened elsewhere since she was sheltered from much of it.
trilled_meow's review against another edition
3.0
I'm rereading one of my favorite series from childhood. This is the diary of Remember Patience Whipple, a pilgrim girl on the Mayflower. Because they were such a small group, most characters other than the Whipple family were real people. Her diary documents various events through at least the first winter at Plymouth.
While Lasky did a pretty good job, I feel like there were a lot of people mentioned and dropped. The Priscilla Mullins/John Alden relationship was brought up a few times and suddenly dropped without even adding that they were married in the epilogue, for example. The other book in this series I read recently/as an adult, written by a different author (I Walk in Dread--set during the Salem Witch Trials), was better about this from what I recall.
While Lasky did a pretty good job, I feel like there were a lot of people mentioned and dropped. The Priscilla Mullins/John Alden relationship was brought up a few times and suddenly dropped without even adding that they were married in the epilogue, for example. The other book in this series I read recently/as an adult, written by a different author (I Walk in Dread--set during the Salem Witch Trials), was better about this from what I recall.