We all know the Little House books. If you know anything about me, you know Laura Ingalls and I are good friends. With May B. out there in the world, people often ask if I can recommend other frontier stories for young readers, those that move beyond the familiar titles we grew up with. Here’s a list put together by the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library with some additions of my own. Enjoy!
Hard Gold – Avi
Dear America: Land of Buffalo Bones – Bauer
The Courage of Sarah Noble – Dalgliesh
The Quilt Walk – Dallas
Weasel – DeFelice
Prairie River (series) – Gregory
My America: A Perfect Place – Hermes
Our Only May Amelia and The Trouble with May Amelia – Holm
Julie Meyer: The Story of a Wagon Train Girl – Hoobler
To the Frontier: The Adventures of Young Buffalo Bill – Kimmel
Addie Across the Prairie – Lawlor
My Name is America: The Journal of Jedediah Barstow – Levine
Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan
My America: As Far as I Can See – McMullan
Dear America: West to the Land of Plenty – Murphy
May B. – Rose
One Came Home – Timberlake
And a few additions of my own:
Prairie School: An I Can Read Book — Avi (this isn’t middle grade but is still worth including!)
Caddie Woodlawn – Brink
Prairie Songs – Conrad
The Misadventures of Maude March – Couloumbis
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple – Cushman
The Birchbark House (series) – Eldrich
Dear America: Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie – Gregory
Dear America: The Great Railroad Race – Gregory
Young Pioneers – Lane
Hattie Big Sky and Hattie Ever After – Larson (young adult, just on the cusp of middle grade)
Riding Freedom – Ryan
Pioneer Girl: A True Story of Growing Up on the Prairie – Warren
Caroline, this is a fabulous list. I love many of the titles one it. Just this week some one asked my about the Little House series. I wish I would have had this to hand her. Thanks.
So glad to hear it! I felt exactly the same way when a friend handed it to me. Now I have books I can recommend when people come asking…
I really appreciate this list! So many great choices. I also like that many would appeal to boys and girls (I have 3 boys). Did I miss Caddie Woodlawn? Another great addition from the Native American perspective is Louise Erdrich’s series starting with The Birchbark House.
Happy to hear it, April!
That Caddie. I had her on the list originally but then pulled her off, thinking she fell into the same category as Laura — well known by our generation of readers. But perhaps she belongs. I can’t assume everyone knows the “oldies but goodies.” I think you’re right. She should be added back in.
Thank you for suggesting Eldrich’s books. You’re absolutely right: they belong on this list.
Thank you for this! My daughter devoured all the Little House books, plus their predecessors (The Caroline Years, The Martha Years, The Rose Years etc.). I just picked up May B. as I saw it on another site recently. Now, thanks to your post, I have some more titles to add to my daughter’s rotation. She’ll be thrilled!
Wonderful, Esther! May B., though in some ways written as a tribute to Laura, is quite different. I like to call it bleak but hopeful. As I was doing my research, this tone felt like the most honest way to capture the the era and May’s story in particular.
I always feel wealthy when I have a big, sprawling list of books to read. Hope your daughter will feel the same.
Great list! Thanks so much for putting this together 🙂
I’m pinning it for later.
Enjoy!
Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman and Prairie Songs by Pam Conrad might interest you.
!!!!! How have I neglected to add two of my favorites EVER?????
The Jumping-Off Place by Marian Hurd McNeely takes place in rural South Dakota and is about orphaned siblings homesteading in the early 1900s. This book was published prior to the Little House series.
Thanks, Debbie!