Julie

by Helen Markley Miller

Julie and her father move to a town in the desert to build a home for their family. Dust, wind, building, and planting the land are all challenges. Julie must also deal with her confusing feelings for two boys.

259 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Cricket Muse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julie fits in well with other titles focused on young women who have to make adjustments to a new environment, such as Kirby Larson’s Hattie Big Sky. Centered on the growing town of Twin Falls, Idaho, Miller tells the story of how sixteen year old Julie traveled with her father from the comforts of family life in Iowa to start a new life out west.

Full of lively dialogue and characterization, readers come to appreciate this story of how a town grow up out of the desert, and a young girl grew up to become a young woman of dreams, yet have her feet planted firmly in Idaho soil.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gets 4 stars not necessarily because it was a great story, but because the author did a really wonderful job of portraying the early days of Twin Falls, Idaho. As a local historian, I was rather impressed by the ways Miller used such details to flesh out the coming-of-age story of Julie, a young woman transplanted from a cushy, metropolitan life in the Midwest to the ramshackle, desert frontier beginnings of south-central Idaho.

Miller explains in broad strokes the canal system and the hard life of scrubbing sagebrush, dealing with the constant wind and dust, and the limitations of life without the comforts of electricity, plumbing, and even transportation. Julie copes with all this as she helps her father and experiences the attention of two interested suitors. Then the author adds a few smaller facts - the sagebrush Christmas tree, the watering of the new trees in City Park, Railroad Day, the slowing of the Snake River over the Shoshone Falls after the gates at Milner opened - that give a great glimpse of what the settlement was like while enhancing Julie's story.

It's too bad this book is out of print (and it looks like, hard to find used) because I could see 4th grade Idaho history teachers using portions of it to highlight the development of the Magic Valley.

[Yvonne Wingard · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from my youth. I took this out of the library on a regular basis; finally found a beat up copy as as adult. Julie seemed very real to me and not like the other girls of novels...she made mistakes and wasn't perfect. Highly recommended!

[Cozette Bolshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites from childhood, I grew up in Twin Falls so this one particularly speaks to me

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was special to me when I read it years ago because it is about the settling of Twin Falls, Idaho, where I grew up. I love how Julie sets the table with the cups upside down because of the wind, and it makes me wonder if that's why my family always set the table that way. It was fun to read about places like the falls that are known and beloved to me.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this in the Idaho historical section of the library. It is similar to Little house on the Prairie only the story takes place in twin falls Idaho. It was fun to see some of the history of the state.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my yearly favorites...
This is an old YA read, but filled with history of Idaho's early towns being settled near Twin Falls. I really enjoy how it gives the perspective from the point of view of someone living through the trials of it. It is simply written, but very realistic...