Good news for fans of Hattie Inez Brooks, the likeable, intrepid heroine of the Newbery Honor book Hattie Big Sky: Thanks to many requests from readers, award-winning author Kirby Larson has penned a sequel to Hattie’s story, which takes her from Montana into an unexpected—and newsworthy—direction.
As the story opens, Hattie is working as a chambermaid in Great Falls, Montana, and has just finished paying off her Uncle Chester’s IOU. Her ties to homesteading are over. It’s 1919, and Hattie is free to follow her heart’s desire. The most sensible move would take her to Seattle, where her friends Karl and Perilee now live and where her true love, Charlie, has just landed a job with the Boeing Airplane Company. But before she settles down Hattie has a dream she must pursue: She wants to be a big-city newspaper reporter—in San Francisco. And while there, she hopes to solve the mystery of her Uncle Chester’s past and discover the truth about a woman named Ruby Danvers.
Hattie is bold enough to apply for a job at the San Francisco Chronicle, even if it’s just on the night cleaning staff. And as she seeks to work her way up to a real writing job, she also shares with Charlie and her Seattle friends postcards that capture the wonders of her new home.
With its engaging heroine, a text graced by reproductions of actual historical San Francisco postcards and an insightful look at women in early 20th century journalism, Hattie Ever After is sure to please Hattie’s fans—and to make her many new ones. Larson has combined impeccable research, lyrical writing and a fascinating time period to give her young heroine a most satisfying “ever after” indeed.
