New Land

Another homesteading book with a headstrong, clever 17-year-old female protagonist? Yes, please! I'm not sure how I ended up reading New Land directly after The Jumping-Off Place (other than the fact that I found them both online), but there are so many similarities that I found myself comparing the two novels the whole time. Both chronicle a family of homesteaders with strong teenage girl leads, both are set in the early 1900s, both families have to deal with a "villainous" family that goes to great lengths to get them to fail on proving up (though with different motives) including vandalism and theft, both deal with crop failure and both climax with a really traumatic yet triumphant experience during a terrifying snow storm.

The books had very different feels, though, and I was more captivated by New Land. It focused more on the national and local politics at the time (not very interesting to me) and on the education required to farm successfully (somewhat interesting) and the protagonist's efforts to reform and strengthen her family members. I will admit: I wished there had been some romance! I think that's the first time I've thought that while reading a Newbery, but there was something about Sayre that just made me wish she had a prospect of some sort. Still good, nonetheless. 3.5 stars