Horn Book Review
Williams imagines a new chapter in the life of the Wilder clan in her sequel to Farmer Boy. Almanzo and his family leave New York State for two years in Spring Valley, Minnesota. The readable story may seem familiar to fans of the series, but Almanzo continues to be an adventurous, horse-loving boy and time and place are vividly re-created. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Farmer Boy (1933). Compressing time span and age differences but otherwise sticking closely to the historical record, Williams (a pseudonym for Tui Sutherland) sends teenage Almanzo Wilder and part of his family from their comfortable New York farm to a new start in Minnesota's Spring Valley. Cast without nuances as a sturdy, reliable lad who loves his family, horses, farming and food (usually in that order) much more than going to school or even being indoors, Almanzo doesn't so much develop as have experiences that explain his later character in the original series--getting over being shy around girls, for instance, by suffering an infatuation with a dazzling classmate that ends precipitately when he discovers that she doesn't like horses. Likewise, a cozy Christmas, a suspenseful box social, a relative's (offstage) death and other events recall or presage incidents and situations in the canonical volumes. Along with physical olden-days details, the author tucks in attitudes that modern readers will (one hopes) find quaint, such as a visitor's condescending reference to idol worship in India and a line about how "girls have to wait for boys to be brave" from Almanzo's older sister Alice. Safe, comfortable, respectful of its progenitors and wholesome as all get out. (afterword) (Historical fiction. 9-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
