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nickscoby's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not entirely convinced that this text should have been a novel. A short story about the interesting parallels between Vietnamese refugees and white settlers in the 19th century? Probably. A critical essay about the challenges of being first-generation college and American while on the job market for tenure track positions? Definitely. But as it is, the book felt tedious at many points.
msnancy_isreading's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
rchluther's review against another edition
2.0
I don't even know what to say about this book. Interesting premise. Interesting ideas. But just such a strange book.
sibbyreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
justicepirate's review against another edition
3.0
Lee's parents were refugees from Vietnam. She and her brother were born in the US as her parents and grandfather would work at Asian buffets or restaurants.
Lee has a fascination with the Little House on the Prairie book series. Her grandfather told her that in Saigon, he had met an American woman who asked him a lot of questions. She gave him a gold pin. The pin is exactly as Laura had described a gold pin from The First Four Years book. This sets Lee off on an adventure to learn if there are any other documents or photographs of the pin anywhere in archives near Iowa. She gets so sucked into it that another mystery comes up in her research.
The whole book is basically about Lee finding out who she is while wanting to find out answers about something she is really into. The book was okay. It reminds me of another book I read where a woman in real life went seeking out answers and visited tons of places too (I think it was The Wilder Life). I wasn't overly impressed by the story, but I enjoyed it and read it quickly enough.
Lee has a fascination with the Little House on the Prairie book series. Her grandfather told her that in Saigon, he had met an American woman who asked him a lot of questions. She gave him a gold pin. The pin is exactly as Laura had described a gold pin from The First Four Years book. This sets Lee off on an adventure to learn if there are any other documents or photographs of the pin anywhere in archives near Iowa. She gets so sucked into it that another mystery comes up in her research.
The whole book is basically about Lee finding out who she is while wanting to find out answers about something she is really into. The book was okay. It reminds me of another book I read where a woman in real life went seeking out answers and visited tons of places too (I think it was The Wilder Life). I wasn't overly impressed by the story, but I enjoyed it and read it quickly enough.
brennercff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cathyatratedreads's review against another edition
4.0
The concept of this book was really a novel one, and I am happy to report it was executed well too. I enjoyed reading so much about the Little House books and Laura and Rose, and I enjoyed as much or more reading about the Asian American experience. My husband is also very Americanized but raised by Asian immigrants (but Filipino instead of Vietnamese), and what the main character wrote about all her frustrations and difficulties and feelings sounded eerily familiar. And the ways she described it all were fun to read. (Just read a few pages about those ubiquitous greasy Oriental buffets dotting the middle-American landscape, and you'll see just what I mean.) The point of view draws readers in, and the writing is immediate, fresh, and engaging. Fine book.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/pioneer-girl-fiction-book-review/
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/pioneer-girl-fiction-book-review/
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
I read 70 pages of this thinking it was a memoir! But then I figured it out, based on the COVER which CLEARLY STATES 'a novel.' My bad. A neat mixture of Little House on the Prairie and the story of Rose Wilder, and the story of a Vietnamese-American girl growing up in the Midwest, with a family who operate a string of Chinese buffet restaurants in small town strip malls.
ori_gina_lity's review against another edition
4.0
Rather than writing a blurb about this novel I think the following quote is the perfect glimpse at Pioneer Girl it highlights the mystery, the history, and the story within a story that comes to life on its pages.
"For the second time in a week, I turned into a thief. I didn’t even think before the photograph was in my notebook, closed between blank pages where I had yet to write anything down about Rose Wilder Lane, or Laura Ingalls Wilder, or why I was there at the Hoover Library, looking them up, searching for, maybe hoping for, my own claim on America’s favorite pioneer family."
Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen is a 2014 release about a Vietnamese American family and their small connection with The Little House on the Prairie via an heirloom pin. It’s fiction but it reads like a memoir and I’m a sucker for authors influenced by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Nguyen’s eye for family dynamics is acute and realistic, the parallels between the pioneer life of the 19th century and Lee Lien’s family’s own contemporary nomadic life in the midwest works wonderfully as an exploration in childhood memories, family bounds, and historical mystery. The novel is a light read on the surface but it does take a look at how literature and family impacts and shapes us in early adulthood. Anyone interested in books about books don’t hesitate to grab a copy! 4/5 stars
"For the second time in a week, I turned into a thief. I didn’t even think before the photograph was in my notebook, closed between blank pages where I had yet to write anything down about Rose Wilder Lane, or Laura Ingalls Wilder, or why I was there at the Hoover Library, looking them up, searching for, maybe hoping for, my own claim on America’s favorite pioneer family."
Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen is a 2014 release about a Vietnamese American family and their small connection with The Little House on the Prairie via an heirloom pin. It’s fiction but it reads like a memoir and I’m a sucker for authors influenced by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Nguyen’s eye for family dynamics is acute and realistic, the parallels between the pioneer life of the 19th century and Lee Lien’s family’s own contemporary nomadic life in the midwest works wonderfully as an exploration in childhood memories, family bounds, and historical mystery. The novel is a light read on the surface but it does take a look at how literature and family impacts and shapes us in early adulthood. Anyone interested in books about books don’t hesitate to grab a copy! 4/5 stars
spauffwrites's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful story about families and what it means to be a pioneer, both as an immigrant and as a young person searching for your life. Lee has adored the Little House books since childhood. Now, stuck in limbo between jobs, she follows an old family tale of her grandfather’s chance meeting with Rose Wilder Lane in his cafe in Vietnam. Her research leads her through the lives of Laura and Rose and across the west. Along the way, she uncovers secrets about Rose’s life, and secrets in her own mother’s life. I loved how the author wove Lee’s story about growing up Vietnamese in the Midwest with the true life stories about Laura and Rose. My one critique is the audiobook narration didn’t always capture the emotion of the novel, but nonetheless the story is captivating.