Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
by samanthar
“If she were white, she wouldn’t have to wear a bonnet.
If she were white, she wouldn’t have to ask about attending school.
If she were white…”
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.
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