After leaving Uncle Chester's homestead claim, orphan Hattie Brooks throws a lasso around a new dream, even bigger than the Montana sky. She wants to be a reporter, knowing full well that a few pieces published in the Arlington News will not suffice. Real reporters must go to Grand Places, and do Grand Things, like Hattie's hero Nellie Bly. Another girl might be stymied by this, but Hattie has faced down a hungry wolf and stood up to a mob of angry men. Nothing can squash her desire to write for a big city newspaper. A letter and love token from Uncle Chester's old flame in San Francisco fuels that desire and Hattie jumps at the opportunity to get there by working as a seamstress for a traveling acting troupe. This could be her chance to solve the mystery of her "scoundrel" uncle and, in the process, help her learn more about herself. But Hattie must first tell Charlie that she will not join him in Seattle. Even though her heart approves of Charlie's plan for their marriage, her mind fears that saying yes to him would be saying no to herself. Hattie holds her own in the big city, literally pitching her way to a byline, and a career that could be even bigger than Nellie Bly's. But can making headlines compensate for the pain of betrayal and lost love? Hattie must dig deep to find her own true place in the world. Kirby Larson once again creates a lovingly written novel about the remarkable and resilient young orphan, Hattie Inez Brooks.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
A Wonderful Sequel to 'Hattie Big Sky'
By Ruth Schubert
Hattie Ever After is a wonderful sequel to Larson's award-winning tale of the orphan girl who worked so hard to try and make a home in Hattie Big Sky.The book picks up the story of Hattie after she has failed, despite heroic efforts, to establish her claim on the homestead her mystery Uncle Chester left to her. Hattie is cooking and cleaning in a boarding house and searching for a way to realize her new dream: becoming a newspaper reporter, like her personal heroine, Nellie Bly.Hattie takes a job as costume mistress with a theater troupe to make her way to San Francisco. She discovers a city that has recovered from the Great Earthquake of 1906 and is brimming with life, as reported by the dailies on Newspaper Row: the Examiner, the Call and the Chronicle.Hattie feels like a hayseed in bustling San Francisco, but she also feels a great deal of excitement at the opportunities the city has to offer. Indeed, San Francisco has a lot to teach Hattie about ambition, trust, friendship and the challenges faced by working women in the years after the Great War.Hattie's upbeat and steadfast boyfriend from back home reappears in Hattie Ever After, hoping that Hattie will come and make a home with him in Seattle. But, thankfully, Larson doesn't fall into the cliché story line of: "do I choose marriage or career?" Hattie travels a more nuanced path, with enough twists to keep the reader engaged.You also get a nice feel for San Francisco life in the early 20th century - not only from Hattie's adventures and the people she meets, but also from the time she spends in the Chronicle's morgue researching both her uncle Chester's past and stories for the reporters there. We get to see the "breaking news" of Woodrow Wilson's trip to San Francisco as part of his tour to sell the League of Nations to the American people, and we follow Hattie on a daring ride in one of William Boeing's seaplanes.In Hattie Ever After Larson creates a rich sense of time and place, even as Hattie faces the timeless struggles of trying to chase your dreams and trying to discover where you really belong.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Girl Power!
By Amber Aslakson
After finishing Hattie Big Sky I could not wait to get my hands on Hattie Ever After. It must have been my lucky day to find out that after I finished the first book the sequel was due out two days later so I did not have to wait long.As a reader of many historical novels over the years and a big fan of stories regarding the pioneers on the prairie I immediately fell in love with Hattie in the first story and knew I would grow to appreciate her more as she moved to the big city in the sequel.At the beginning of the story the reader finds Hattie with many choices to make. This theme runs throughout the story as Hattie calls on prayer, friends, and at times her inner voice to help her find her place in life. When Hattie left her Montana homestead she also left dreams and a sense of purpose.Throughout this novel we find Hattie not taking no for an answer and working hard to meet her goals. We are introduced to new characters, some we will cheer for and others we will jeer. The characters are well developed, while still giving the reader the opportunity to make them It is great to find old friends from Hattie Big Sky in this novel as well. There is less of a focus on the war in the sequel, but it does give readers in insight to life after the way as the "boys" returned from fighting over seas.The readers are lead through an adventure in perseverance and will as Hattie works to become a female reporter in a world where they are few and far between. We learn about Hattie's unwillingness to accept no for an answer and that she is not afraid of hard work.Hattie is a tremendous role model for all girls. She is strong and determined. She does not let being a girl stand in her way of things or use it as an excuse either. She thinks for herself and does not allow her judgement to be clouded by suitors.I loved how this book ended and thought that it brought together all the loose ends and gives a sense of closure more than the previous novel. I think it shows that hard work pays off and that if something is important to someone they will find a way to make it all work out.Hattie is a character that will stay with many for many years. I will enthusiastically recommend this book to my middle school students! I have suggested it to quite a few adults already as well!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.News Flash: Marvelous Story Just Released!
By Maggie Knapp
At 17, orphan Hattie Brooks has left her failed Montana acreage for the city and her dreams of writing stories for a living. Hattie is willing to do what needs to be done, but always has a soft heart, as she moves from cleaning rooms in a boarding house, to the night shift cleaning offices for a newspaper in San Francisco. She continues to be intrigued by secrets from her uncle's past, and is drawn to the excitement of the newsroom. Mostly she's asked to fetch coffee or check facts, but she keeps her sights set on a career more like her role models: Ida Tarbell and Nelly Bly. Larson has populated her story with rich characters like Marjorie D'Lacorte and Charlie and Hattie herself. There is gentle romance and scurrilous double-dealing and plenty of historical atmosphere in the 1919 mostly-San Francisco setting. HATTIE EVER AFTER is a fitting and wonderful follow up to HATTIE BIG SKY, but this book is fully capable (like Hattie) of standing on its own. The ending could be taken as "happily ever after" but if Ms. Larson decides to write a third book about Hattie, I for one, would be thrilled.About me: I'm a middle school/high school librarianHow I got this book: purchased for the library
