Hope Springs Eternal

Prairie River #4

by Kristiana Gregory

Nessa's winter was fraught with trials, but now spring has come to Prairie River - and so has her dear friend Albert. Albert is Nessa's oldest friend from the orphanage, and she had prayed that he would join her in Kansas ever since she journeyed to the small, remote town a year ago. But a year is a long time, and Albert's arrival is not what Nessa had imagined. Things are different between them, and Nessa must reconcile the changes if she has any hope of starting their friendship anew.

This is #4 in the series.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Historical, Christian Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

About the author

Kristiana Gregory grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, two blocks from the ocean. She's always loved to make up stories [ask her family!], telling her younger siblings whoppers that would leave them wide-eyed and shivering. Her first rejection letter at age ten was for a poem she wrote in class when she was supposed to be doing a math assignment. She's had a myriad of odd jobs: telephone operator, lifeguard, camp counselor, reporter, book reviewer & columnist for the LA Times, and finally author.

Her award-winning books include STALKED, which earned the 2012 Gold Medal for Young Adult Mystery from Literary Classics and is hailed as "historical fiction with a thrilling twist." KIRKUS calls it "an atmospheric confection that will thrill YA readers ... Gregory achieves a realistic, rich atmosphere with insightful details about the immigration process and New York tenements in the early 1900s." Now available on Kindle and in paperback.

JENNY OF THE TETONS [Harcourt] won the Golden Kite Award in 1989 and was the first of two-dozen historical novels for middle grade readers. Several of Kristiana's titles are now available on Kindle including "Curiously Odd Stories: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" with the celebrated 'Paper Monument', a futuristic book-banning with horrific consequences.

BRONTE'S BOOK CLUB [Holiday House] is set in a town by the sea and is inspired by the girls' book club Kristiana led for several years.

Her most recent title with Scholastic's Dear America series is CANNONS AT DAWN, a sequel to the best-selling THE WINTER OF RED SNOW, which was made into a movie for the HBO Family Channel.

New re-releases in ebooks and paperback on Amazon:
**PRAIRIE RIVER SERIES #1-4
**ORPHAN RUNAWAYS: THE PERILOUS ESCAPE TO BODIE
**CABIN CREEK MYSTERIES #7: THE PHANTOM OF HIDDEN HORSE RANCH
**THE WAITING LIGHT: CLEMENTINE'S STORY -- originally titled "My Darlin' Clementine" [Holiday House] this riveting historical mystery takes place in an Idaho mining camp of 1866, and was Idaho's representative for the 2010 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Library of Congress.

Kristiana and her husband have two adult sons, and live in Idaho with their two golden retrievers. In her spare time she loves to swim, walk, hike, read, and hang out with friends. She's trying to learn to knit, but isn't yet having much success.

Check out Kristiana's blogs at http://notesfromthesunroom.blogspot.com/ for behind-the-scenes stories about her books, and with photos from her childhood.

Reviews

[Leah Good · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally got to read book four in the Prairie River series! Whoopee. :)

These books were first recommended to me in 2007 or 2008. At that time I loved the series because it was historical fiction and about an orphan. It always bothered me that the library didn't own the final book in the series.

This Christmas, I finally got book four. Reading the story seven years after first coming to love the series, I found myself still enjoying the story. These books are deep for short, middle-grade stories. Nessa wrestles with tough issues -- like how to treat some very unkind neighbors in a Christian manner -- and doesn't get pat, tied-up-in-a-bow answers. She makes mistakes, learns from them, gets back up, and tries again.

Mrs. Lockett is one of my favorite characters. She's one of those motherly, always-has-the-right-thing-to-say kind of people. She leads by example and knows how to soothe Nessa's fears without numbing her conscience.

This book, and the series as a whole, if completely child safe and is also enjoyable to older readers looking for a short, sweet read.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is probably on a fifth grade level. It's about a fifteen-year-old orphan girl on the prairie. She teaches school for the local children and has been taken in (but not adopted) by a good family. It felt to me like it was the second book in a series. There were several details that were mentioned that felt like the author was recapping in case there people like me who hadn't read the first book. The ending also felt like it was just a stopping point in a larger story.

The major characters in this book are very Christian and the conversation takes a religious tone frequently. However, it never gets preachy. The religion flows with what is happening with the story.

I think that a ten-year-old girl would really enjoy this book.

[Emi えみ Takami 鷹見 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series. I read the first one way back in 4th grade, and met the series again working as a children's librarian. I wish there was a continuation to see how Nessa and Green's lives played out after setting out to find her family.

[Jennifer Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daughter and I loved this sweet series!! Middle grade Christian historical fiction. Best read in order.

[Janie R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I come to the end of this series, I wish it would continue, I really enjoyed this series. An inspirational story of a young orphaned girl, who after the age of 14, as with the rules at the orphanage,would be dismissed- she set out into the world, a journey,with very little to call her own. The historic setting was very descriptive, the characters seemed so real, I cried, and laughed with Vanessa through out the book. Faith, honesty, hard work ethic, and bravery were themes in this story. I always enjoy a book with such themes as this one.

[Terralyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge sigh!! How can this be the last book in the series?!?! I have so many questions and curiosity about what happens to the characters. This was a great series. Easy to read but still engaging. My only regret is that this is the last book.

[Katelyn Snell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending leaves me wondering if a fifth book was planned, but never came to fruition. Overall, I like the series, but it feels incomplete.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just crying this was so good. I don't want this series to end!! It is amazing,

[Ellie Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so I liked this book but I really think Ness should have stayed in Prairie River. I hurt when she left and by the time Albert came back, I was done shipping them, her and Rolly are very nice to geather and it broke my heart when she left!!!

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The ending was okay. I feel like there should be another book to the series!