Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Product ASIN:

0984504176

Product Description

Follow the real Laura Ingalls and her family as they make their way west and discover that truth is as remarkable as fiction.

Hidden away since the 1930s, Laura Ingalls Wilder s never-before-published autobiography reveals the true stories of her pioneering life. Some of her experiences will be familiar; some will be a surprise. Pioneer Girl re-introduces readers to the woman who defined the pioneer experience for millions of people around the world.

Through her recollections, Wilder details the Ingalls family s journey from Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, back to Minnesota, and on to Dakota Territory sixteen years of travels, unforgettable stories, and the everyday people who became immortal through her fiction. Using additional manuscripts, diaries, and letters, Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography builds on Wilder s work by adding valuable context and explores her growth as a writer.

Author of an award-winning Laura Ingalls Wilder biography, editor Pamela Smith Hill offers new insights into Wilder s life and times. In an introduction, Hill illuminates Wilder s writing career and the dynamic relationship between the budding novelist and her daughter and editor, Rose Wilder Lane. Sharing the story of Wilder s original manuscript, Hill discusses the catalysts for Pioneer Girl and the process through which Wilder s story turned from an unpublished memoir into the national phenomenon of the Little House series.

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography also explores the history of the frontier that the Ingalls family traversed and the culture and life of the communities Wilder lived in. This groundbreaking volume develops a fuller picture of Wilder s life and times for the millions of readers who wish to learn more about this important American author. It contains one hundred and twenty-five images, eight fully researched maps, and hundreds of annotations based on numerous primary sources, including census data, county, state, and federal records, and newspapers of the period.

An important historic and literary achievement, this annotated edition of Pioneer Girl provides modern readers with new insights into the woman behind the fictional classics Little House in the Big Woods, Farmer Boy, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #218 in Books
• Brand: SOUTH DAKOTA HISTORICAL
• Published on: 2014-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 10.00" h x 9.25" w x 1.50" l, .0 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 472 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Gr 10 Up—Hill presents a detailed annotated version of Wilder's autobiography, written between 1929 and 1930, which served as the basis for the ever-popular and successful "Little House" books. A successful columnist and editor, Wilder chronicled 16 years of the Ingalls family's moves through Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and the Dakota Territory in the late 19th century, offering vivid descriptions of the land and people as well as the ups and downs of frontier life. Though daughter Rose Wilder Lane heavily edited the manuscript, it was never accepted for publication. Wilder eventually fictionalized many of the incidents described here for her "Little House" series and strove to portray the spirit of the time and to illustrate the courage and adaptability of the people who settled the frontier. Using census data, newspapers, and other primary documents, this volume is heavily annotated and puts into perspective the original autobiography and how that manuscript evolved into the fictional stories. Though casual readers may find the information overwhelming, "Little House" devotees will appreciate Hill's thorough examination of Wilder's life and times.—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

Review
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography offers Wilder s complete first draft of her own story, enhanced by scrupulous and wide-ranging new research. . . . And I m happy to say is a treasure. . . . Wilder pulls off the difficult trick of telling a rich, satisfying story about good people being good. The Pa of Pioneer Girl is still a selfless provider, Ma is a skilled homemaker, Mary a prim playmate, and Laura a good-hearted tomboy. Their stories may have been tidied up on the path between nonfiction and fiction, but their characters remain reassuringly intact. . . . Pioneer Girl is a welcome reminder of the power, even the genius of the Little House books. . . . this annotated edition of Pioneer Girl will deepen and enrich a great American story. Ruth Graham, The Slate Book Review --pioneergirlproject.org/reviews/

Wilder s memoir is a fascinating piece of American history, but it s the annotations that set Pioneer Girl apart as the most important work of its kind. . . . It thrills with new insights and mature content, educates with historical facts and documentation, and enlightens with cultural perspective and commentary, all while maintaining the spirit of adventure and integrity that is the backbone of the Little House world and Wilder herself. . . . With Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, Hill has ensured that not only will Laura Ingalls Wilder continue to inspire, but that her audience will grow and expand for generations to come. Pallas Gates McCorquodale, Foreword Reviews Magazine --pioneergirlproject.org/reviews/

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography offers an in-depth look at the original hand-written nonfiction manuscript by Wilder . . . an extensive back story of both Lane and Wilder as writers and the role Pioneer Girl played in their respective careers. . . . I found it fascinating . . . Pioneer Girl is dense with annotations that explain how original text was edited, where individual stories ended up in the final series, and how editors worked to fact-check Wilder s personal memories. . . . Most importantly, Pioneer Girl frames Wilder s work in a historical context and closes the gap between her pioneer days as a young girl and her life as a highly acclaimed fiction writer . . . Pioneer Girl offers an in-depth look at the circumstances that, over time, caused the original girlhood tales of Wilder to evolve into a series of bestselling books that earned Wilder critical acclaim and recognition that have endured for decades. Lane Brown, The Christian Science Monitor --pioneergirlproject.org/reviews/

About the Author
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867 1957) finished her autobiography, Pioneer Girl, in 1930 when she was sixty-three years old. Throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s, Wilder utilized her original manuscript to write a successful series of books for young readers. Her daughter, journalist Rose Wilder Lane, served as her editor and borrowed from her mother s life story to write two novels of her own. Pioneer Girl, which chronicles sixteen years of Wilder s pioneer youth, is where all the stories begin. Wilder died in Mansfield, Missouri, at ninety years of age on February 10, 1957.

Pamela Smith Hill is the award-winning author of Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer s Life and three historical novels for young adults Ghost Horses, The Last Grail Keeper, and Voice from the Border. She has taught creative and professional writing at universities in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, as well as a course on Laura Ingalls Wilder through Missouri State University. She grew up forty miles from Rocky Ridge Farm, launched her writing career not far from De Smet, and now lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography is a publication of the Pioneer Girl Project, which is a research and publishing program of the South Dakota State Historical Society.