HATTIE BIG SKY

HATTIE BIG SKY, by Kirby Larson (Delacorte 2006)(ages 12+). In late 1917, sixteen year old orphan Hattie Brooks is bequeathed her uncle's homestead claim in Vida, Montana. Tired of being shuffled from remote relative to remote relative, Hattie heads out by herself to prove the claim.

When she arrives, she finds hard work, bad weather, and new friends. Through it all, she shares her experiences with old friends back in Iowa and on the Western Front, and encounters the anti-German prejudices of the day.

A 2007 Newbery Honor Book, HATTIE BIG SKY is an elegant and sweet story of one girl's quest for independence and family.

NUBS: THE TRUE STORY OF A MUTT, A MARINE, AND A MIRACLE

NUBS: THE TRUE STORY OF A MUTT, A MARINE, AND A MIRACLE, by Maj. Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson, and Mary Nethery (Little Brown 2009). In western Iraq, a group of American marines befriended a dog they called "Nubs," because his ears had been cut off. They couldn't keep him, but when they left, Nubs followed their humvee. For seventy miles across the desert...

So they organized a campaign to bring him back to the US...

Illustrated with photographs, evocative of LASSIE COME HOME, this charming tale will appeal to dog lovers everywhere. And, no, the dog does not die.