by Carole Estby Dagg
Eleven-year-old Terpsichore Johnson moves to Alaska with her family as part of FDR’s New Deal program to resettle families on relief onto their own farms. Terpsichore has to deal with all of the usual challenges of moving and making new friends along with less common challenges like not having electricity or even a house at first. She also has to do her best to convince her mother that the family should stay in Alaska.
I can’t speak for whether the historical details of this story are accurate—I enjoy historical fiction, but this isn’t a time frame I know well—but I’m always a fan of pioneer stories, especially in Alaska. I enjoyed the characters, particularly spunky and courageous Terpsichore, and while the writing wasn’t flawless, the story was well told. One of my favorite takeaways from the book is that kids are just as capable as adults to do big things and change the world.