A review by peytonktracy
West to a Land of Plenty: The Diary of Teresa Angelino Viscardi by Jim Murphy

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!