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Beyond the Divide
Amish farmer Will Simon and his daughter Meribah, who is also a talented artist, join a wagon train heading west and find themselves beset by drought, illness, and hardship as they struggle toward California
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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About the author
Kathryn Lasky
266 books2,278 followersKathryn Lasky, also known as Kathryn Lasky Knight and E. L. Swann, is an award-winning American author of over one hundred books for children and adults. Best known for the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, her work has been translated into 19 languages and includes historical fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 5, 2013
Name: Gail Roshong
APA citation: Lasky, K. (1983). Beyond the divide. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Genre: western
Awards: Notable Book Designation, New York Times-1983; Best Books for Young Adults, ALA-1983
Format: print
Selection process: Beyond the Divide was positively reviewed (four stars) by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8, back in 1983. Hurst, who died in 2007, administered the highly esteemed Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site when the internet was in its infancy. Dick Abrahamson, reviewing the novel for the English Journal in 1983, called Beyond the Divide "one of the finest historical novels I've read in a long time. It certainly ought to be considered for the Newbery Award.”
Review:
One of Lasky’s most acclaimed works for young adults, Beyond the Divide recounts the 1850’s journey of fourteen year old Amish Meribah Simon and her shunned father from Pennsylvania to California by wagon train. Meribah’s dangerous trek during the Gold Rush becomes Lasky’s fictional vehicle for sharing much relevant historical information. In Beyond the Great Divide, villains and heroes co-mingle as the greed for gold takes over. Meribah’s father dies of an infected wound, her friend is raped, her supplies are stolen, and she is ultimately abandoned by the wagon train. Rescued by a group of Yahi Native Americans, Maribeh comes to understand and appreciate their peaceful lifestyle and love of Nature. The novel closes with Meribah returning to a fertile valley, “a place that I’ve been to, and it’s a place that I know is really my home. It’s a place where I can be.” The reader is left wondering if she ever fulfills her dream.
As much as this book is an accurate and gripping account of the westward movement, it is more Meribah’s strength of character that shines. She continually questions and measures what she witnesses as she grows into womanhood. The reader is carried along as she survives adversities, makes difficult decisions, and ultimately returns to where she finds peace in the natural world. The one flaw may be Lasky’s creation of an Amish Meribah without understanding the Amish. A girl of Meribah’s age would not be permitted to leave the Amish community. Nor would any Amish girl have a younger brother named Taylor. Even with this minor flaw, Beyond the Divide has withstood the test of time.
APA citation: Lasky, K. (1983). Beyond the divide. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Genre: western
Awards: Notable Book Designation, New York Times-1983; Best Books for Young Adults, ALA-1983
Format: print
Selection process: Beyond the Divide was positively reviewed (four stars) by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8, back in 1983. Hurst, who died in 2007, administered the highly esteemed Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site when the internet was in its infancy. Dick Abrahamson, reviewing the novel for the English Journal in 1983, called Beyond the Divide "one of the finest historical novels I've read in a long time. It certainly ought to be considered for the Newbery Award.”
Review:
One of Lasky’s most acclaimed works for young adults, Beyond the Divide recounts the 1850’s journey of fourteen year old Amish Meribah Simon and her shunned father from Pennsylvania to California by wagon train. Meribah’s dangerous trek during the Gold Rush becomes Lasky’s fictional vehicle for sharing much relevant historical information. In Beyond the Great Divide, villains and heroes co-mingle as the greed for gold takes over. Meribah’s father dies of an infected wound, her friend is raped, her supplies are stolen, and she is ultimately abandoned by the wagon train. Rescued by a group of Yahi Native Americans, Maribeh comes to understand and appreciate their peaceful lifestyle and love of Nature. The novel closes with Meribah returning to a fertile valley, “a place that I’ve been to, and it’s a place that I know is really my home. It’s a place where I can be.” The reader is left wondering if she ever fulfills her dream.
As much as this book is an accurate and gripping account of the westward movement, it is more Meribah’s strength of character that shines. She continually questions and measures what she witnesses as she grows into womanhood. The reader is carried along as she survives adversities, makes difficult decisions, and ultimately returns to where she finds peace in the natural world. The one flaw may be Lasky’s creation of an Amish Meribah without understanding the Amish. A girl of Meribah’s age would not be permitted to leave the Amish community. Nor would any Amish girl have a younger brother named Taylor. Even with this minor flaw, Beyond the Divide has withstood the test of time.
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April 17, 2013Erika Lawrence
Lasky, K. (1983). Beyond the Divide. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Historical Fiction
Print
Selection Process: Something About the Author. Detroit: Gale Research
Review
Beyond the Divide is a story of inner strength, self reliance and survival. Fourteen year old Meribah Simon lives a simple life in Holly Springs, Pennsylvania within an Amish community. She lives comfortably with her siblings, her mother Constance and her father Willis. Willis’s relationship with the Amish community falls out of balance. Willis no longer feels welcome in the community and decides to travel west to California during the Gold Rush. Out of all his children, it does not take Meribah very long to decide to leave with her father. They start their journey with the best of intentions; neither Meribah nor Willis has any idea what the future has in store as they head to California. The father and daughter do know that the journey can be treacherous and prepare themselves the best they can with as many necessities as a wagon can hold. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can truly prepare them for this journey as it becomes a test of human will. This book is recommended to those that enjoy western historical fiction.
Lasky, K. (1983). Beyond the Divide. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Historical Fiction
Selection Process: Something About the Author. Detroit: Gale Research
Review
Beyond the Divide is a story of inner strength, self reliance and survival. Fourteen year old Meribah Simon lives a simple life in Holly Springs, Pennsylvania within an Amish community. She lives comfortably with her siblings, her mother Constance and her father Willis. Willis’s relationship with the Amish community falls out of balance. Willis no longer feels welcome in the community and decides to travel west to California during the Gold Rush. Out of all his children, it does not take Meribah very long to decide to leave with her father. They start their journey with the best of intentions; neither Meribah nor Willis has any idea what the future has in store as they head to California. The father and daughter do know that the journey can be treacherous and prepare themselves the best they can with as many necessities as a wagon can hold. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can truly prepare them for this journey as it becomes a test of human will. This book is recommended to those that enjoy western historical fiction.
October 17, 2015
So, I really liked this book. I let one of my friends borrow it, and she lost it. She was so extremely disappointed and said, "Punish me." So I told her to look for it. Which she did. She couldn't find it. This friend had never lost anything before, so I told her it was fine, but I was actually kind of upset because...
1) I really, really, really liked this book!
2) She never got to finish it.
Alas, I saw it in our homeroom teacher's lost and found one day, but you see, friends, when she lost the book I was not in the same homeroom, and the book didn't have my name on it, so the likelihood of it being the same book was very little. I was going to take a look at it the next day, but,wouldn't you know it, it was gone. Which made me sad, because I loved all of the characters and the plot in this book. I wanted to read it again badly.
So, I go on a choir trip. And when I get back, my friend comes into the classroom with a "surprise" for me. She had been looking for something else at the big lost and found ad she saw the book. I was so happy and wanted to re-read it right away. But I had to make sure she had read it. "Oh, don't worry, I already did," she said. So I took the book, and when I got home I read it again.
Both times, the book was wonderful. I love Meredith and her father, and the decision she makes at the beginning of the book was a hard one. I like the characters that I'm supposed to like, and I dislike the ones that I'm supposed to dislike. It's really a great book!
1) I really, really, really liked this book!
2) She never got to finish it.
Alas, I saw it in our homeroom teacher's lost and found one day, but you see, friends, when she lost the book I was not in the same homeroom, and the book didn't have my name on it, so the likelihood of it being the same book was very little. I was going to take a look at it the next day, but,wouldn't you know it, it was gone. Which made me sad, because I loved all of the characters and the plot in this book. I wanted to read it again badly.
So, I go on a choir trip. And when I get back, my friend comes into the classroom with a "surprise" for me. She had been looking for something else at the big lost and found ad she saw the book. I was so happy and wanted to re-read it right away. But I had to make sure she had read it. "Oh, don't worry, I already did," she said. So I took the book, and when I got home I read it again.
Both times, the book was wonderful. I love Meredith and her father, and the decision she makes at the beginning of the book was a hard one. I like the characters that I'm supposed to like, and I dislike the ones that I'm supposed to dislike. It's really a great book!
May 11, 2017
A book you expect to hate for a good portion of the time but, in the end it's just great. i mean: first her frind gets raped, and then that friend stays behind the wagon train in hopes of dieing then later the main girl threatens a man with a gun, who's trying to steal her wagons wheels and then when she get's left behind she manages to survive for sometime but some guy comes and trys to molest her so she shoots him in the face splatering guts all over the cave. tee hee. fabulous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 25, 2015DID ANYONE ELSE READ THAT BOOK WHERE A FAIRLY YOUNG AMISH GIRL LEFT HER COMMUNITY TO GO WITH HER SHUNNED FATHER TO LOLIFORNIA IN SEARCH OF GOLD AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE BUT HER DIED BY THE END OF IT? LOL GRIMMEST CHILDREN'S NOVEL. I REMEMBER THERE BEING SOME RLY GROSS DESCRIPTION OF GANGRENE OR SOMETHING AT ONE POINT TOO.
March 4, 2017
A realistic tale of the times....
February 22, 2024
I found this book shelved in Youth at my library. If I were recommending this well written account of a young Amish girl who breaks from her family to travel West with her father, I'd say more suited for upper grades to adult. There's a lot for a young reader to process in this story--and some of it is the very worst side of mankind. There's theft and desertion. There's murder and rape and even a double suicide. It's a very engrossing read. It has a strong female main character and the book is unique for this type of story in that it tends to focus on the characters and their interactions/reactions more than the trip and trials they face. The ending is unexpected--and I really liked it. Four stars.
August 14, 2024
Mildly interesting because I enjoy gold rush stories and Amish stories. Morbid. Desperate. No happy ending in my opinion, although the author tried to convey the “poetic beauty” of Meribah’s changed perspective, but I found it to be lackluster, unappealing, and unable to make up for the overall darkness of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2020
I happened to find this book while cleaning out a bookshelf and sorting books; realized I bought it in early teenage-hood and then never actually read it. Hate to waste a possibly good book so I read it now and actually really enjoyed it.
September 28, 2021
The inaccuracies in this book bothered me so much I couldn't finish it. I have enjoyed many others of Lasky's books, but she messed up on this one. She seems to have the Amish confused with the Quakers, for one thing.
March 9, 2019
Dnf serious would finish
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April 9, 2021I read this in grade school and I was looking for it again so my daughter can read it - it was a very gripping story to me at the time, I'm hoping I can find it in print somewhere!
August 3, 2017
Wieder eines meiner absoluten Lieblingsbücher, die mich schon mein ganzes Leben begleiten. Die Geschichte von Meribah, ihrer Abschied von Zuhause, die Reise und ihre Strapazen und schließlich der Verlust des Vaters haben mich bereits früh dazu gebracht, das Buch immer wieder in die Hand zu nehmen. Hier wird die Geschichte eines jungen Mädchens erzählt, das in einer rauen Umgebung erwachsen werden muss und sich zu einer starken Frau entwickelt. Sehr empfehlenswert zu lesen!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews