Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

by Heather Williams (Pseudonym), Tui T. Sutherland

Nellie Oleson does not like living in Walnut Grove. It's dirty and dusty and full of poor farmers.
One day a new girl, Laura Ingalls, comes to school. Laura's dress is too short, she doesn't wear shoes, and she lives out on the lonely prairie. But everyone wants to be Laura's friend. Nellie doesn't understand: if she's the prettiest and richest girl in Walnut Grove, shouldn't she be the most popular?
Nellie will do anything to get Laura Ingalls out of her life, and one day her wish comes true. Something terrible does happen, but not just to Laura Ingalls—it happens to the entire town of Walnut Grove.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic story On the Banks of Plum Creek introduced readers to Nellie Oleson. Now readers will see events unfold from Nellie's perspective in Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls, which is an enchanting and eye-opening look at Laura Ingalls's prairie foe.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult, Chapter Books, Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did a surprisingly good job of humanizing the villain of the Little House books, Nellie Oleson, and making her a compelling child dealing with the world. (However, the rest of her family pretty much gets thrown under the bus. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♀️)

She and her family position themselves as the most prosperous people in town - and yet, this book frames her upbringing as fundamentally deprived: of love, attention, and training in how to handle life (and, especially, other people).

The ending brings Nellie to a place of growth in character and leaves the door open for her to go on to a better future than one might have pictured, having read Laura's accounts.

[Lithia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying that I questioned the quality of this book beforehand. I wondered how the events from On the Banks of Plum Creek could be made fresh and interesting.

From the start of the book, Nellie came of as a spoiled brat with no sense of reality. Her voice was annoying.

The background story before Laura showed up was interesting. It gave me a better perspective on Nellie's life, not just Nellie's actions as in On the Banks of Plum Creek. As I read on, I gradually began to feel more sympathy toward Nellie.

When Laura Ingalls was introduced, I felt that some of Nellie's thoughts were irrational, but I understood that Nellie felt ostracized from the other girls. While the Town Party and the Country Partly followed Wilder's description, Nellie's thoughts were insightful to her character.

Before I read this book, I had always felt that Laura's mean trick at the Country Party was justified. However, Laura's trick seemed cruel in Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls because Nellie is starting to accept Laura. This trick turns Nellie against Laura even more.

The end of the book did not show complete redemption. There was no "sorry" from Nellie or forgiveness on Laura's part. Nellie's struggle was more of an internal one. It was about Nellie feeling better. It showed growth in her character.

This book did exceed my initial expectations. The message was good and it fit well with On Banks of Plum Creek. I would not say that it was an exceptional book, though I did think that it was probably the best that could be done with the material. The language of the book was simple and redundant at times. This may have been done to get the effect of being inside Nellie's head. Also, the book was written for younger children. Overall, I would say it was well done.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I was skeptical of the idea that Nellie needed her own HarperCollins engineered spin-off, but this was a kick to read. To really appreciate it, read it after a re-reading of On the Banks of Plum Creek.

[Calis Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story takes place during the events of On the Banks of Plum Creek from the perspective of Laura Ingalls' nemesis Nellie Olsen. Antagonist perspective stories have been a cultural gold mine for the past 15 years so it doesn't surprise me that one of TV's most hateable antagonists from the 70s gets her own.
Here Nellie like her TV counterpart has extreme classism behavior looking down on the farming community of Walnut Grove as less than. So it infuriates her when "country girl" Laura comes to school and (from her exaggerated perspective) starts stealing away her attention. We get the party events from the original books including the part where Nellie gets covered in leeches causing her to wish terrible things on Laura so she can leave. When the grasshopper swarm descends on Walnut Grove and Nellie realizes that her family relies on the farmer clientele more than she thought she starts to have second thoughts.

It was a little tricky for me reading this book having watched the TV show and despising Nellie so seeing her have a guilty conscience was a little eyebrow raising for me.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nellie Oleson. Poor girl, but awful. And not poor like poverty but ah, she needs someone to pay attention to her and teach her things. Anyway, there's hope for Nellie for sure. I liked this book, but not as much as the ones about Laura and her family, where they are the main characters. I liked the Cynthia Rylant ones better than this too. I did indeed like the ending though, and the final couple of chapters. I wanted to read everything Laura Ingalls that I hadn't read before, so this was what I was looking for.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Little House, but reading from Nellie's POV just made me want to smack her and her brother because of their spoiled brat behavior that their parents did nothing to deter. Nellie did learn her lesson in the end, which is why I gave it three stars instead of two. I'd just be afraid to give this book to a young girl to read and have her start emulating Nellie's snooty behavior from the first 2/3 of the book!

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is basically a retelling of at least a portion of On the Banks of Plum Creek, but from the point of view of Nellie Oleson. My main issue with the story is that Nellie's concerns with being the prettiest and best dressed, as well as the richest, seem somewhat unlikely for a girl of her age — only seven years old.

[Wendy McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I was skeptical of the idea that Nellie needed her own HarperCollins engineered spin-off, but this was a kick to read. To really appreciate it, read it after a re-reading of On the Banks of Plum Creek.

[Hanna Forrest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have strong feelings against Nellie.....

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reimagining of the Little House period when Nellie met Laura, told from Nellie's point of view.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Drivel

[Kari McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting. It was an easy read but very compelling. Gives a plausible “backstory” for Nellie’s hateful actions.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate that I liked this book. It was nicely done, very reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing, but it gives us a sympathetic look at the character of Nellie Olsen... seeing both familiar events and new events through Nellie's eyes. Of course, the character of Nellie Olsen was an amalgam of several girls that Laura knew during her childhood, but is a girl all of Laura's fans dearly love to hate.

[Stasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so... Growing up, I may have been bullied by a girl that I secretly called 'Nellie Oleson' in my head... Anyway, this book lets you see the Ingalls from Nellie's POV, and also inside her own family life. By the end of the book, you understand Nellie a little but better, and you get a sense of WHY she is the way she is.

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good, surprisingly faithful to the tone of the original books, this was an unexpected pleasure to read, despite the main character being the girl everyone loves to hate. A bonus was the splash of Walt Whitman at the end.

[Galina Krasskova · Rating 4 out of 5]

read it to my god daughter and she loved it. I often find the characters rather provincial in these little house books (the caroline years particularly) but this was quite an entertaining read and struck just the right balance.

[Madison]

Nellie was a brate

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

NIce look at a small chapter in Laura's life, the first time she met Nellie.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

slow and boring

[Lauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it but I felt it was based more on the TV show than the Little House books.

[Penny Whitmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13485114