Prairie Lotus, by Linda Sue Park

 

I love the premise of this book—a girl facing not only the normal challenges of life on the prairie—but also facing severe prejudice as a second-generation immigrant with a Chinese-Korean mother (now sadly deceased) and a white father.  It's a sad but beautiful and hopeful story.

Hannah did seem a bit too perfect and some of the other characters a bit too horrible, but I still really liked her and was totally rooting for her the whole way—often rather angrily because people can be so cruel and bigoted.

I was hoping for more historical detail of the kind I loved in the Little House books, like how to make this, and how to preserve that, and how to live without the other thing.  What was included in Prairie Lotus was great  I just greedily wanted more.  I loved the dressmaking and entrepreneurial details.  I loved her interactions with the Native Americans.  I loved the school curriculum.  These were all great.  I just wanted to know more about…I don't know…how to make soap.  Or prime a pump.  Or make salt pork (which was mentioned). Or communicate (by letter? telegraph?) with the stores they order things from (is there a catalogue?).  Or find mushrooms to dry for her soup.  Sigh.  I should just stop being greedy.  Or maybe beg Linda Sue Park to write a sequel. 

Occasionally it did feel a bit like historical-fiction-through-a-modern-mindset. That will bother some readers, but I didn't mind. 

The writing was smooth, engaging, and powerful.  The pacing was good.  The plot was interesting.  The ending was not too perfect but yet still satisfying.  I loved the slow development of her friendship with another girl.  Her difficult relationship with her father was well drawn.   

I was sad when it ended—not because of what happened, but because I had no more left to read—always the mark of a good book.

This is at least 4.5 stars, almost 5 (which I don't give out very often to novels).

I've only read one other book by Linda Sue Park:  the phenomenal A Single Shard.  This book has convinced me I need to read all her other books.