On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894

Friday, October 8, 2010

On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894

Written by: Laura Ingalls Wilder with a setting by Rose Wilder Lane

First line: For seven years there had been too little rain.

Why you should read this book: If you loved Wilder's Little House books, return to the world of the intrepid pioneer with this short diary, chronicling Laura, Manly, and Rose's five-week drive from drought-stricken South Dakota to prosperous Missouri. Along the way, Wilder describes the country she crosses, the people she meets, and the little adventures to be had in a caravan, in the focused and intelligent prose for which she's known. The forward and afterward, written by her daughter, who was seven at the time of the trip, paints a complete picture of life with the Wilder family, and the reality of the situation they left, and they one they came into.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're obsessed with the young Melissa Gilbert.

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Dragon's Library

Friday, October 8, 2010