An quick, interesting read that gives insight into early frontier life.

Obviously she would write based on stories her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder, had told her. This was a complete copy cat of the first few Little House on the Prairie books! I loved those books so this one, not so much...

Sweet and heartwarming

The author, Rose Wilder Lane, is the daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She is writing about the pioneers of the prairie (the same as her mother); however, this title was short (only 175 pages with no illustrations) and the text was fast and lacking the indepth knowledge that the Little House books offered. For example at the beginning of the book David and Molly get married, head west, start a homestead, and have a baby all in of the first 23 pages.

The pace is fast and if readers do not understand some of the concepts like sod houses/shanty, they will need to find the explanation somewhere else because it is not described in the book. The text is mediocre in most places and then the text will burst with a passage so deep that it will need to be reread to understand all of it's nuances. For example: "Under the immeasurably vast sky, a limitless expanse of snow refracted the cold glitter of the sun. Nothing stirred, nothing breathed; there was no other movement than the ceaseless interplay of innumerable and unthinkably tiny rays of light. Air and sun and snow were the whole visible world -- a world neither alive nor dead, and terrible because it was alien to life and death, and ignorant of them" (pp 146-147)

A quick read of westward expansion and the hard life on the prairie and a couple of young kids (18 & 16) that are in love and starting out life on their own on a little homestead on the Minnesota prairie. A good read, however I like the Little House series better.

Wanted to read this as lane took licenses from some of her mother's stories to create it. It was good but didn't have the warmth or depth of her mother's work. Still enjoyed reading it although it gave a very different depiction of the long Winter.

After reading Bich Minh Nguyen's Pioneer Girl, I knew I had to read something by Rose Wilder Lane. Young Pioneers was the only book available from my library system. Now that I've read it, a quick story that chronicles the first year of marriage and westward settlement of young couple Molly and David, I agree with academics who believe that Rose was really a ghost writer for her famous mother, Laura. Readers of the "Little House" series will see many similarities in plot and writing style among the two authors. All in all, it was an enjoyable, quick read focusing on the grit of the American spirit. In accordance with it's historical framing, it completely ignores the displacement of native peoples and includes terms considered derogatory today.

This story was so very interesting, and I looked forward to the next chapter . . .

Rose Wilder Lane tells a good story, indeed.

Doesn't come close to her mom

I have always loved the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and when I heard about this book, I wanted to read it. David and Molly in the story were modeled after Rose's grandparents, Charles and Caroline Ingalls. While the book is geared towards young folks, I did enjoy it quite a bit. While the "Little House" books are geared towards a younger set, "Young Pioneers" makes a nice addition to your bookshelves for your older children. I think the "Young Pioneers" is a bit more realistic when it comes to the hardships and dangers that the Pioneers faced, while the "Little House" books sugar coated them a bit because those books were more geared towards younger children. Also, Rose's writing style is different from those that her Mother penned. It's a bit more stark and not as descriptive.

If you've read the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, you will recognize that many of the settings and events in "Young Pioneers" are from Laura's book, "On the Banks of Plum Creek". For instance, David and Molly live in a dugout on the banks of Wild Plum Creek. They also lose their wheat crop through a swarm of grasshoppers. But, you also get a glance at what "Ma" and "Pa" were possibly like before Laura was born. The story starts with David and Molly's wedding. David is 18 and Molly is 16 when they set off on their adventure. From the "Little House" books, I never pictured them being that young. Granted, I know that this is a fictionalized account of Charles and Caroline's early years, but this fact was probably pretty accurate. After reading the book, think about this...how many 16-18 year olds do you know that could survive life as a pioneer in today's age? I enjoyed the book quite a lot, but I did feel that the ending was a bit abrupt. I would have like to have had it go on a bit longer to have it feel a bit more complete. I don't think it has the same magic as the "Little House" books, but it was well written and enjoyable.

This book is appropriate for I'd think 6th grade and up. Nothing too violent, just the stark reality of life as a pioneer. Also, there is a mild curse word that is used once when David is upset toward the middle-end of the book.

A bit confusing - unsure how much is fiction vs nonfiction.

Good pioneer story but not a compelling one thus 4 stars. But I still recommend the book! The perseverance of our ancestors is something we need to learn about because the ease of life most of us enjoy today lulls us into a false sense of security and then when catastrophe hits many do not handle it well. Most of our pioneer ancestors dealt with adversity ALL the time and we can learn a lot from them in dealing with modern day life. Now, many people give up too quickly, in marriage (Divorce is all too common), child rearing ( just give them what they want to make them happy), social situations (phones and internet keeping us from engaging with society), etc. Pioneers dealt with hardships and trails and still managed to find happiness in their lives and we need to learn that living a good life is hard work. Yes, we need a balance of work and leisure but pioneers found that balance by growing food and finding joy in it, raising chickens and finding joy in it. Today we see everything we do as work.

I love the Little House books so I of course loved this one. It is very similar to On The Banks Of Plum Creek and The Long Winter. Many elements are the same. Whether Rose wrote this first from inspiration from her mother and grandmother’s stories and then Laura came along and did a bit more detailed version, I don’t know. I also have heard it is called “Let the Hurricane Roar”,but that book had Charles and Caroline as the main characters rather than Molly and David. Why the change I wonder? Still enjoyed it!