“West to a Land of Plenty” by: Jim Murphy

Recommended Age: 9-12

208 Pages

Description: The first humorous addition to the historical fiction series is narrated by Teresa, a first generation American of Italian descent, who travels by train and then by wagon with her family from New York to a utopian community in Idaho.

My Rating: 2/5

To be honest, I really did not like this book very much. Generally I enjoy the Dear America books, but this one was not great. See my comments below for specific examples.


Things to be aware of in “West to a Land of Plenty:”


Language:

  • A mention of “colorful language” (no elaboration)
  • 4 “stupid”
  • 2 “shut up” (including one instance of a teenager saying it to a grandmother) (-1 star)
  • 2 “damd” (and a few other variations)


Violence:

  • A character hits another character in the shoulder.
  • Numerous characters die via drowning, sickness and other causes
  • A character’s clothing catches on fire
  • Some characters are nearly shot
  • A teenager handles a gun and haphazardly shoots it (I understand dramatic effect but this was way too much!)


Romantic Content:

  • Hand holding and brief kisssing among 14-year olds


Spiritual Content:

(-1 star)

This was so disappointing to me! There was so many missed opportunity to present the gospel!

  • The majority of the main characters are Catholic.
  • Mass is mentioned
  • “Momma does not trust the Irish and they are Catholic like us.”
  • “I said five prayers this morning. Two to the Little Madonna of Trappeto, one to the Sweet Baby Jesus, one to His Holy Father in Heaven, and one to Saint Anselm of the Five Wounds.”
  • One statement of “God punishes nosy girls.”
  • A mention of pray to your “own God.”
  • A mention of a “bottle of holy water” that a character carries.
  • Prayers are said for characters who have passed away.


Additional Notes:

(-1 star)

  • Mentions of hating other people (specifically adults in a child’s life - parents, grandparents, uncles, etc.)
  • There are disputes among siblings (primarily sister vs sister). There is no major content to note about the disagreements other than they do not hold each other very highly (often saying the other is annoying or makes her so mad).
  • Mention of a land being millions of years old.
  • “What use is a pistol to a girl?” “The same as for a boy.”

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