Prairie Lotus

Locations
Call Number: Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Park, Linda Sue
On Shelf At: Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Park, Linda Sue	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Park, Linda Sue	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Park, Linda Sue	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Historical / Park, Linda Sue	4-week checkout	Due 03-15-2024

Prairie Lotus is a powerful, touching, multilayered book about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father's shop, and making at least one friend. Acclaimed, award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a young half-Asian girl, Hanna, in a small town in America's heartland, in 1880. Hanna's adjustment to her new surroundings, which primarily means negotiating the townspeople's almost unanimous prejudice against Asians, is at the heart of the story. Narrated by Hanna, the novel has poignant moments yet sparkles with humor, introducing a captivating heroine whose wry, observant voice will resonate with readers. In Dakota Territory in the 1880s, half-Chinese Hanna and her white father face racism and resistance to change as they try to make a home for themselves. Includes author's note.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Great for Little House fans of any age submitted by samanthar on August 11, 2020, 1:16pm Linda Sue Park loved the Little House on the Prairie series growing up. But being Korean, she never read about people she identified with in the Little House world. So she wrote Prairie Lotus, an attempt to reconcile the absence of Korean and Chinese immigrants in stories from this period of history. The main character, Hanna, is 14 years old and lives with her father in the frontier town of LaForge. She wants to attend school, but is faced with racism and prejudice from the townspeople. She tackles the injustices head on, determined to dismantle stereotypes. Though it was written for a middle school audience, I recommend this book to any Little House fan. Hanna is a wonderful character, and the representation this book offers is so important for our reimaginings of the pioneer world.

Heartbreaking, but good story. submitted by jgetty on March 17, 2021, 5:15pm The cruelness of people towards the main character Hanna was heartbreaking. It was hard to read these parts, so very sad. Hanna had incredible stamina, optimism, self-preservation, and determination, and was able to handle somehow, the awful prejudices and cruelness from people, and live her life. I loved the parts about sewing. A wonderful book.

a non-white Little House submitted by camelsamba on June 25, 2021, 12:57pm Not long before reading this book, I learned that my mother's favorite book as a child was Little House on the Prairie. I like to think that she would have enjoyed this story as well. Prairie Lotus powerful coming of age story, told through the lens of a teen girl whose mother was Chinese and father white. After her mother died, she and her father left California and headed East, eventually settling in the Dakota Territory. Some of the plot is predictable (to an adult at least), but that doesn't make it any less moving. The author's note at the end provides important context.

Revising the canon submitted by redwood on June 10, 2022, 12:42pm This is a great writing back to the Little House series, making space for Asian American identity. Some of the racism Hanna faces will feel familiar to contemporary Asian Americans, although the setting is historical. Hanna is a deeply likable character, enterprising and kind. Park's depiction of Native Americans also serves as a necessary revision of Laura Ingalls Wilder's work.