From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7. A 13-year-old girl keeps a diary of her family's trip west on the Oregon Trail. She includes joys as well as sorrows, but there are many more of the latter. A woman steals from the other pioneers, children get lost, people die from eating poisonous plants and drown while crossing rivers. But Hattie's personal growth and the sense of community portrayed bring an optimistic note to the journey. Although competently written, the characters and plot in this "diary" are not fully developed. Still, the details of life on the trail will be fascinating to young readers, and teachers will find this title useful for social studies units. Back matter includes historical notes, black-and-white photographs of wagons and pioneers on the trail, a recipe for Johny Cake, the words and music for "Skip to My Lou," and maps of the route taken by the families.?Connie Parker, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Cleveland, OHCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
In a work subtitled ``The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell,'' Gregory (Earthquake at Dawn, 1992, etc.) reconvenes the Dear America series in 1847, as Hattie, her parents, and her two younger brothers begin the long trek from Missouri to Oregon by wagon train. At first the adventure is exciting, but as the days, weeks, and months pass, Hattie realizes what a dangerous and tedious trip it will be. They cross the prairies, hastening the journey as news of the fate of the Donner party reaches them, but death, disease, weather, and the terrain take a terrible toll. The Campbells lose neighbors and friends until they almost believe they cannot bear to continue. Continue they do: Eight months after they set out, the remaining wagons arrive in Oregon City, just in time for Christmas. Through Hattie's diary, Gregory brings the rigors of the trip to life, but she also includes the details that kept the settlers going--the friendships and camaraderie that developed and the joyful events (a wedding and some births) that occurred. Gregory brings a sobering dose of reality to an era that's often romanticized; this is a fine glimpse of history on a human scale. (b&w photos, map) (Fiction. 8-14) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Card catalog description
In her diary, thirteen-year-old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail.

ANNOTATION

In her diary, thirteen-year-old Hattie chronicles her family's arduous 1847 journey from Missouri to Oregon on the Oregon Trail.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Now that we're in the North Platte River Valley the air feels dry and thin. My lips are so chapped they bleed when I talk. The only thing to do is dip our fingers in to the bucket of axle grease and rub our lips every hour or so. It smells bad, it tastes bad, and the blowing dust sticks.

It feels like we must be halfway to Oregon, but Tall Joe says, no, we've only gone five hundred miles. He also says the worst part of the trail is to come.

Does he mean more rivers to cross...? I'm afraid to ask what he's talking about.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

As with other books in the "Dear America" series, this is not an actual diary; it's historical fiction cast in diary form. From the opening segment when Uncle Milton's coffin ends up in the river and his body is lost forever, readers are captivated by the observation of thirteen-year-old Hattie Campbell. Her father has decided to take the family to Oregon, a land of mild weather and rich farmland. Getting there in 1847, however, was not easy. The family joins a wagon train and spends months crossing the country to reach their new home. There is danger, romance, and plenty of good historical information about life during the mid-eighteen hundreds. It is another fine addition to the series.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7A 13-year-old girl keeps a diary of her family's trip west on the Oregon Trail. She includes joys as well as sorrows, but there are many more of the latter. A woman steals from the other pioneers, children get lost, people die from eating poisonous plants and drown while crossing rivers. But Hattie's personal growth and the sense of community portrayed bring an optimistic note to the journey. Although competently written, the characters and plot in this "diary" are not fully developed. Still, the details of life on the trail will be fascinating to young readers, and teachers will find this title useful for social studies units. Back matter includes historical notes, black-and-white photographs of wagons and pioneers on the trail, a recipe for Johny Cake, the words and music for "Skip to My Lou," and maps of the route taken by the families.Connie Parker, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Cleveland, OH

Kirkus Reviews

In a work subtitled "The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell," Gregory (Earthquake at Dawn, 1992, etc.) reconvenes the Dear America series in 1847, as Hattie, her parents, and her two younger brothers begin the long trek from Missouri to Oregon by wagon train. At first the adventure is exciting, but as the days, weeks, and months pass, Hattie realizes what a dangerous and tedious trip it will be. They cross the prairies, hastening the journey as news of the fate of the Donner party reaches them, but death, disease, weather, and the terrain take a terrible toll. The Campbells lose neighbors and friends until they almost believe they cannot bear to continue. Continue they do: Eight months after they set out, the remaining wagons arrive in Oregon City, just in time for Christmas. Through Hattie's diary, Gregory brings the rigors of the trip to life, but she also includes the details that kept the settlers going—the friendships and camaraderie that developed and the joyful events (a wedding and some births) that occurred. Gregory brings a sobering dose of reality to an era that's often romanticized; this is a fine glimpse of history on a human scale.