Little Town at the Crossroads

Martha is still a more interesting character - I actually do want to keep reading the series to learn about her. I suppose that, by making Caroline (and, really, all the little girls in these different series) rather generic, the little girls reading them can identify with them, empathize with them, better.

I also have a small nit to pick - it's highly unlikely that the books mentioned would have made it to Brookfield the year they did - they were very-newly published. I could be wrong, as Wilkes did more research than I, but if Caroline did indeed have access to these stories she was a very lucky girl.

ETA - I almost forgot a bigger problem I had with this - the massacre of the passenger pigeons! Yes, I know, at the time it was what was show more done. But it still seems wasteful. Especially because a lot of carcasses were abandoned on the town's streets, and the hogs were brought in to eat them up - pretty gruesome stuff for a book like this! show less

Caroline watches eagerly as buildings spring up overnight and more and more families move into the growing town of Brookfield, Wisconsin. There are all sorts of exciting, new things for Caroline to do, but Mother keeps saying she wants to move to a larger farm. Will Caroline have to say goodbye to Brookfield?

One story of the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lots of fun and laughs, a good afternoon read.

One story of the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lots of fun and laughs, a good afternoon read.

None of the other "Little House Years" books are as good as the ones about Laura but other then the Laura books I prefer the Martha and Charlotte books. I don't enjoy the Caroline books as much because they are a bit uneven for me with some in the series being really good and others lacking.

Caroline’s starting her second year of school with old friends, enjoying new adventures, and living in Brookfield while preparing to leave. She is busy with new holiday traditions and old chores.

One of my favorite childhood books