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kittykatrain's review against another edition
4.0
I would have preferred if it just been teresa. Her sister was kind of uppity and I wasn't really engaged with her.
peytonktracy's review
4.0
This was a really different addition to this series in many ways, and I enjoyed it quite a bit for all the ways it was unique compared to the usual formula for this series. First, I love that it comes from two narrators - two sisters writing in the same diary. I loved getting to know them both and in the context of each other. Additionally, this leant itself to getting to know the other members of the Viscardi family, who all had their own interesting journeys alongside Teresa and Netta. Second, I love how gently and naturally Teresa grew into her own. It was small, baby steps, which is usually how it happens rather than one big singular moment of growth. And finally, and I think I wouldn’t have loved this at the age of the target audience, but I liked that there wasn’t a clearly defined ending, and some thing were explicitly left out of her recording. It left room for the imagination, and a promise of what came next without exploring it. My only beefs with this book was, as always, the handling of the Native Americans on this westward journey. It’s just going to be permanently hard, I think, to read stories about white colonialist settlement in North America without the cringe. But solid 4 stars for me on this one otherwise!
originstorytoloveisdestroy's review
3.0
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't crying by the end of this book. Sorry, haha. I haven't read one of these novels since I was a wee little kid. I do not believe you could truly appreciate them until you are older as well.
As someone who once wrote avidly in a diary, I can confirm the way the little girl wrote in her diary is extremely accurate: Poor grammar & spelling, overly used punctuations, the endings and all. As someone who used to sign "JHR Out!" at the end of her diary entries thinking it made me appear more like a spy (or "The End" to make it appear as though it were a fairytale versus reality), I appreciated her saying "End. TAV" at the end of her diary entries.
I only wished the ending had included J.W. in a different sense, which I hope is not a spoiler to any who stumbles upon this review.
As someone who once wrote avidly in a diary, I can confirm the way the little girl wrote in her diary is extremely accurate: Poor grammar & spelling, overly used punctuations, the endings and all. As someone who used to sign "JHR Out!" at the end of her diary entries thinking it made me appear more like a spy (or "The End" to make it appear as though it were a fairytale versus reality), I appreciated her saying "End. TAV" at the end of her diary entries.
I only wished the ending had included J.W. in a different sense, which I hope is not a spoiler to any who stumbles upon this review.
tsilverman's review
1.0
Easily the most unlikeable journalist in this series so far. She did nothing but complain, and her much younger sister was so much smarter than she was. The events that took place seemed a little farfetched as well, especially when Teresa left with her grandmother to find her father and they just happened to find a trail. Not to mention her taking on the bandits.
samanthaspice91's review
3.0
Wow this was TOO sad. I forgot that Dear Americas vary widely in terms of the Sadness Scale. It also suddenly featured people dying of a fever which....was not what I needed late at night right now tbh.
soulwinds's review
3.0
3 stars for West to a Land of Plenty
Thought and Plot
Let me just start by saying that this was a hard book to get into at first. The first bit of the book takes place during a long train ride and as a result the author tries to focus more on the family than on the actual journey. Teresa is the older sister and the main writer of this diary. Her sister often steals her book to write down her own thoughts and adventures, adding more information for the reader from a separate source. In the beginning a found Teresa to be a rather whiny and disagreeable narrator, but over time she seems to mature a bit and lose most of that annoying tone. It's just a matter of sticking with it.
Eventually things do pick up when the family joins a wagon train destined for Opportunity, Idaho. While I did not find this one as interesting or as filled with hardships as the Dear America about the train wagon to Oregon, it still was decent enough to hold my interest.
In Conclusion
This book was a struggle to get into, but picked up around the the halfway point. It wouldn't be my first pick to recommend to others, but it does alright.
Age range: older middle school and up
Content: Does mention injuries such as broke bones, people dying by drowning, has old racist stereo types going on, andthe second narrator, Netta who is the younger sister dies by fever, so that may be upsetting.
Thought and Plot
Let me just start by saying that this was a hard book to get into at first. The first bit of the book takes place during a long train ride and as a result the author tries to focus more on the family than on the actual journey. Teresa is the older sister and the main writer of this diary. Her sister often steals her book to write down her own thoughts and adventures, adding more information for the reader from a separate source. In the beginning a found Teresa to be a rather whiny and disagreeable narrator, but over time she seems to mature a bit and lose most of that annoying tone. It's just a matter of sticking with it.
Eventually things do pick up when the family joins a wagon train destined for Opportunity, Idaho. While I did not find this one as interesting or as filled with hardships as the Dear America about the train wagon to Oregon, it still was decent enough to hold my interest.
In Conclusion
This book was a struggle to get into, but picked up around the the halfway point. It wouldn't be my first pick to recommend to others, but it does alright.
Age range: older middle school and up
Content: Does mention injuries such as broke bones, people dying by drowning, has old racist stereo types going on, and
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