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

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

3.0

This entry in the Dear America series was solidly in the middle of the pack in terms of good inclusion of history and interesting storytelling and compelling characters. Some of Kristiana Gregory's other Dear America entries have featured surprisingly flat characters, the narrative being shaped more by the history the book is centered around rather than the diarist and their friends and family. This one was an improvement; I knew the motivations for all of the characters to go or not go to Oregon, what they were scared of and struggled with and got to witness their growth by the end of the book, and therefore found it a more satisfying read. But it gets some big demerits from me for the inclusion of attitudes and plot points that I don't think were compelling enough or relevant enough to the Oregon Trail experience to warrant their presence in the story, particularly for impressionable middle readers. I don't see the point of including the fatphobic and ableist content that is in this book surround the Bigg family, even if it set up our narrator to have a moment of growth by realizing she had been a judgmental twerp and to both feel ashamed and make up for her behavior. I also understand girls married younger in this era, that is a historic reality, but it still makes me super uncomfortable for 14-year-old girls to get married and bear children over the course of the book. It is easy enough to talk about marriage and childbearing on the trail without it having to be via underage girls. So all-in-all, not bad, but historical actualities don't always need featured in historical fiction for middle readers. 
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