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Title: Land of the Buffalo Bones: The Diary of Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodgers, An English Girl in Minnesota, New Yeovil, Minnesota 1873 (Dear America Series)
ISBN: 0439220270
Author:
Marion Dane Bauer
Publicate Date: 2003-04-01
Publish: 2003-04-01
List Price: $12.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.18
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.22
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.36
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Mostly accurate, dull little book
This is the first Dear America I've read, and I'm sorry to say it didn't live up to the hype. The characters were uninspiring. Polly's dislike of her stepmother had potential, but never seemed to go anywhere and then it was resolved. The drifting apart of Polly and her best friend was beaten to absolute death without ever inspiring an emotional response. The ending was anti-climactic in the extreme. The occasional instances of historically inaccurate ideas were jarring. The one good thing about this book is that it was accurate in describing the hardships faced by early settlers in Minnesota.
I'll try other books in this series, but this one falls flat.
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2: Five Stars
A very interesting Dear America story. American history is filled with different religious groups who come here this one is about Mary Ann Elizabeth Rodger also know as Polly who comes to America from England where her father and his congregation moves from England to Minnesota. Notihng goes as her father had planned. The voyage was terrible and the land in Minnesota was barren and only thing they could afford to live in are sod homes. Polly experiences the freezing Minnesota winter and the hot summers and insects. All Polly can think about is everything that was better back home andall they used to have. The congregation ends up rejecting their reverend and her family heads off to find a new home. I thoroughly enjoyed this book which is based on the writer's own family experience it also reminded me of my own experiences. I've spent a lot of time in Minnesota and could easily relate to the freezing winters and the hot summers filled with insects. Polly, her father and family reminded me of my own great-grandfather and his family. His father was also reverend in our family. It was fun reading a story about someone else's family while being reminded through out the story of my own.
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3: Not the best
In this Dear America book, Land of the Buffalo Bones, Polly Rodgers and her family travel from England to Minnesota with hopes of a better life. They are very disappointed. Polly and her family have troubles, with not knowing what to do, or how to live on the land.
That being said, this book isn't the best in the series, it simply lacks something, you don't really feel close to the characters, and the overall story is kind of dry. It's not a bad book, there are simply better Dear America books to be read.
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4: A Very Good Book
Mary Elizabeth, or Polly, is caught up in the dramatic jorney to the harsh, cold, badlands of Minnesota, Land of the Buffalo Bones from her safe home in her native land of England. She and her family wither through the long, hard voyage, eroding away with every day. When the battle is finnaly overcome, the climate and conditions in Minnesota are not as good as expected to be. The people of the party and Mary Elizabeth's family suffer through a long winter. But once the winter beging to fade away, she finds that life in Minnesota is not as bad as she generally expected and presumed it to be. When she becomes wrapped up in the frightening buisness of the Native American people, the book grows exiting and page-turning. When her best friend runs away with a yound Native-American man, escaping the clutches of her abusive father Mary Elizabeth isn't sure whether to be happy or sad. This well-written book takes readers on a journey down a powerful, well-described path, and into the pages of Mary Elizabeth's own diary.
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5: ORD
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move to the U.S. when it was just starting to colonize? Well, Mary-Ann Rodgers got to at the age of fourteen in the book, Land of the Buffalo Bones, by Marion Bauer. She moved with her father, step-mother, brother, two half bothers, two half sisters, and the servant girl, Nellie. Mary-Ann's father, who is a pastor, brought over more than 100 people from England to live in Minnesota. At first, it was terrible, between the harsh winters, grass fires that could start at any time, and the very little rain they got. Mary-Ann's life was turned upside down when she moved to Minnesota; remembering all the things she had in England. This book is full of adventure and excitement. You just can't put it down!
This novel has all the characteristics of an amazing book. It was funny, sad, and scary. For example, Polly (Mary-Ann) and her best friend, Jane, who also came over from England, were out in the woods one day looking for Jane's mother. She had disappeared the night before. When they were looking they heard a strange sound coming from the river. They ran over there thinking it might be Jane's mother when in reality it was a pack of wolves. They started surrounding the girls, snarling and howling. Suddenly, a savage jumped out of the woods and scared the wolves away. Jane and Polly were so stund they didn't move for a couple of seconds. When the Indian went back into the woods the girls could move again, wondering if all was a dream. Sadly though, Jane's mother had committed suicide by drowning herself in the river. She took this action because her only son had died on the ship coming over to the United States. This devastated Jane's entire family. Now, all that was left of the family was Jane and her father.
This book was one of my favorite books in the Dear America Series. It had characters that kids my age can relate to. With their chores, disliking their brothers and sisters at times, and missing what they use to have in England. This book was filled with thrills! You won't want to put it down! See for yourself in the book, Land of the Buffalo Bones.
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