Book Review: Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams

Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams is the story of fourteen-year-old Almanzo Wilder going West with his parents, older sister Alice, and baby brother Perley.

Mother receives a letter from her brother George, who lives in Spring Valley, Minnesota. He encourages the Wilders to pay him and his new wife a visit to see if they would like to move there.

It takes months of preparations, but once winter is over, the Wilders board a train to start their journey to Spring Valley. Royal and Eliza Jane are being left behind to watch the farm in Malone, New York. Almanzo is excited to go, but he knows he will miss his horse, Starlight.

Farmer Boy Goes West is a superb addition to the Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House legacy. Meant to serve as a sequel to Wilder's Farmer Boy, this story of a teenage Almanzo captures all the excitement and adventure of the original Little House books, while providing some insight into the man Laura Ingalls would eventually marry.

A healthy blend of fact and fiction, Williams captures the essence of the original Little House books, while maintaining an air of her own style. The events in this book are condensed to two years instead of the five years it actually took for the Wilders to make their move from New York to Minnesota. She also took liberties with some of the historical characters. I don't feel that had a negative impact on the story, but those who are sticklers for facts might have an issue with it. I'm hoping not, since this is a truly delightful story. The only thing that really made me stop for a second came in the second chapter, when it said, "One day in January, soon after Almanzo's fourteenth birthday..." Almanzo's birthday is in February. While Wilder did play around with the Wilder siblings' birthdays in Farmer Boy--making Almanzo closer in age to his older brother and sister--as far as I recall, she didn't change the month Almanzo was born.

As with any great story, things aren't always easy. Almanzo ends up having to attend a new school in Minnesota. He has to make new friends. He misses Starlight and Royal, maybe even his bossy older sister, Eliza Jane. He likes a girl at school, but is shy and has no idea how to get to know her. Meanwhile, his Aunt Martha isn't very happy about jamming the Wilders into their tiny home.

There are also some neat surprises and interesting historical characters added in, but you won't know what or who those are unless you read the book.

I'm thrilled to add Farmer Boy Goes West to my Little House collection.


Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (February 14, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061242519
ISBN-13: 978-0061242519
SRP: $15.99

I purchased a copy of this book from Amazon. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

Reading Now: Farmer Boy Goes West by Heather Williams

Almanzo Wilder is going west! He and his family are moving all the way from their cozy farm in Malone, New York, to the bustling town of Spring Valley, Minnesota. Almanzo can’t wait to explore, but life in Spring Valley isn’t what he expected. The Wilders have to stay with relatives in a small, cramped house where Almanzo’s aunt Martha is cold and unfriendly. Almanzo longs for the freedom he had back home, and he especially misses his horse, Starlight. Even as he makes new friends at school and helps his father pick a plot of land for the family to settle on, Almanzo can’t help but wonder: Is Minnesota the right place for the Wilders? Or do they belong in New York? First introduced in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic Little House book Farmer Boy, Almanzo Wilder’s adventures continue in Farmer Boy Goes West.

A couple of my Little House friends and I are reading this book together. It ends up being an online book club, where we talk about the book we're reading, and in this case, discuss how the fiction differs from the history.

We're two chapters in right now. Almanzo's parents have decided to visit Mother's brother, Uncle George, and his new wife in Spring Valley. Father wonders if they should move west too. Almanzo is excited to go, but he is sad he must leave his beloved horse, Starlight, at home. Royal and Eliza Jane will stay in New York and take care of the farm, while Father and Mother, Alice, Almanzo and little Perley make the long trip.

I'm enjoying this book so far, but it's odd to have a sequel coming so many years after the original--and by a different author. Luckily, the author is a Laura fan, so she is writing in a style that captures the essence of Laura Ingalls Wilder's work.

A full review will follow.

Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls by Heather Williams--Book Review

Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls, written by Heather Williams, is based during the time in which On the Banks of Plum Creek, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, takes place. Nellie hates life on the prairie and yearns to move to wonderful New York City. Very little about prairie life gives Nellie satisfaction; but what does is that her family is the richest family in town and that she is the most popular girl in school. Nellie becomes upset when she is not the center of attention. Once Nellie is not the center of the attention, she becomes angry at her limelight stealer and plots revenge. In class one day, Nellie feels as though she is unjustly accused and becomes upset with her teacher, Miss Beadle. Nellie decides to fill Miss Beadle's desk drawer with disgusting insects and employs her brother Willie's help.

In the spring of the next year, a new girl comes to school. Her name is Laura Ingalls and everybody likes her better than they like Nellie, which makes Laura an enemy. Laura even has the nerve to play a different school yard game and Nellie's best friend, Christy, loves to play the new game instead of her favorite game. At supper that night, Mrs. Oleson uncharacteristically asks Nellie how school was that day. When Mrs. Oleson hears that Nellie thinks she no longer has any friends, Mrs. Oleson comes up with a plan to help the girls realize how special Nellie is. The plan is a birthday party and the party, in Nellie's mind, helps her become the most popular girl. Nellie is excited to go to school the Monday following the party but is floored to learn that that wretched Laura is going to have party. Once again Laura is the most popular girl and Nellie becomes upset. During the party Laura plays a mean trick on Nellie and Nellie wishes that something bad would happen to the Ingalls family so that they would move back east.

Later in the summer the town is plagued by grasshoppers and families are forced to moved away. Nellie discovers that her family is no long as rich as they were and that she can no longer have whatever she likes from the store. Nellie becomes quite sad, thinking that she is the cause of the grasshoppers. At school Nellie is overcome by her feelings and confesses to Miss Beadle that the grasshoppers are here because of her. Miss Beadle sets Nellie straight and tells Nellie that being a pioneer girl is not easy and that she will have to be brave and good. Nellie takes these words to heart and tries to be brave and good.

I have a little disclaimer for my above review of the book. I realize that I make Laura seem to be a bit 'bad', but this is not my intent. The book is written in the view point of Nellie as is this review.

At first I did not think that I would enjoy this book. In the first few chapters Nellie is rather bratty and I do not like reading a book where a child is bratty and gets away with it. After the first chapters, I think that Nellie does not come across this way. Overall I enjoyed the book. There were a few things I thought were interesting. I thought it was interesting that Nellie's first doll was named Laura and I thought that it was interesting that Mr. and Mrs. Oleson had different first names than they did in the tv series. I suppose that we don't know their real first names, so that any name really could've been their first name.

I think that the book was well done and that reading the book gives one insight into what may have been going through Nellie's mind and why she was the way she was.

Reviewed by: Kerissa