Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life

by Shelley Tougas

A life on the prairie is not all its cracked up to be for one girl whose mom takes her love of the Little House series just a bit too far in this middle-grade novel about belonging from the author of A Patron Saint for Junior Bridesmaids.

Charlotte's mom has just moved the family across the country to live in Walnut Grove, "childhood home of pioneer author Laura Ingalls Wilder." Mom's idea is that the spirit of Laura Ingalls will help her write a bestselling book. But Charlotte knows better: Walnut Grove is just another town where Mom can avoid responsibility. And this place is worse than everywhere else the family has lived--it's freezing in the winter, it's small with nothing to do, and the people talk about Laura Ingalls all the time. Charlotte's convinced her family will not be able to make a life on the prairie--until the spirit of Laura Ingalls starts getting to her, too.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Contemporary, Family

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2017

About the author

I have a few titles: mom, wife, reader, teacher, speaker. Zombie hunter and Jedi Knight are only part-time gigs.

Most importantly, I’m a writer.

I wrote my first book at age seven, and my friend did the illustrations. Mom threw away A Robin Lays an Egg in a cleaning frenzy. My first publishing heartache.

After college, I worked as a journalist. Reporting taught me character, plot, voice, and how to write 15 inches of copy in 15 minutes. I wrote about strange people in absurd situations. Journalism is my training ground for fiction and my perspective on life. I’m thankful for every moment in that newsroom.

The Free Press, my writing boot camp.
The Free Press, my writing boot camp.

Then I jumped into public relations and eventually quit to write full time. Sometimes the decision felt like a terrifying free fall. But persistence pays.

I kept writing, and eventually companies published my work. Then nice people gave me some awards and honors. Then a lovely agent agreed to be my publishing partner.

Add novelist to my list of titles. The Graham Cracker Plot will be released in the fall of 2014.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlotte Lake is blaming all the current upheavals in her life on Laura Ingalls. After all, if her mother had not been inspired to write a book about a pioneer girl then they would not be moving to Walnut Grove.
This is a great book for middle grade girls and boys who loved the Little House series. It critically examines some of the national issues that were occurring during Westward Expansion like Indian resettlement, Chinese migrant workers, railroads, etc. Without pointing fingers, the book shows the reader the facts about history alongside the story of Laura Ingalls. It also shows the train wreck that occurs when you heap lie upon lie. A cautionary tale and worth reading.

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me well over a month to finish with Shelley Tougas' 2017 middle grade novel Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life. And in my humble opinion, this already kind of demonstrates that I have not taken all that much reading pleasure from what Tougas writes in Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life and especially with regard to contents and thematics, finding her presented narrative problematic, uninspired and generally not at all to either my reading or to my academic and intellectual tastes (although since Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life has quite a number of high ratings and positive reviews, I might actually think about trying again in the future to see if my current two star rating for Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life could end up changing, might move up a notch to at least three stars upon rereading, although to be perfectly truthful here, the more I am musing about Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life, the less likely I would ever consider upping my star rating).

For to be perfectly honest, it is for me very difficult to find Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life fun, engaging and something that is even remotely a reading joy because (and for almost the entirety of Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life) I am finding main protagonist and first person narrator (twelve year old Charlotte Lake) to be hugely annoyingly frustrating and as such basically also a major and all encompassing pain in the buttocks so to speak (put kind of crassly, I admit, but I do stand by said sentiment). Yes, I do of course understand and can even appreciate as well as personally relate to Charlotte in Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life absolutely despising and also feeling depressed by the fact that her single mother (once again, for the umpteenth time) is moving the entire family, and to the small prairie town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota (so that she, so that Charlotte's mother might be inspired by former resident, by the spirit of late children's and universally known/famous author Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House on the Prairie fame to successfully pen her own prairie themed and based novel). But how in Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life, Charlotte Lake acts, how she behaves and also tends to keep justifying her behaviour, this is (at least for and to me) mostly just kind of frustrating and even rage inducing to a point, since Charlotte very deliberately and with pretty specific calculation behaves snarkily, often with major rudeness and equally so keeps acting and doing without thinking, jumping to conclusions over and over without learning any lessons (and often in fact hurts other people with and by her actions and her continuous "oh poor unfortunate me" victim making moaning and groaning).

Also, not to mention that Shelley Tougas has far too many of the adult characters inhabiting the pages of Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life being presented and described as underdeveloped and stereotypically inappropriate (like bumbling cops or weirdly boundary-crossing school administrators) or totally and ridiculously outlandish (for example that substitute teacher who openly abandons lesson plans in favour of nastily argumentative spelling bees). And well, a potentially interesting subplot involving Charlotte and her half sister Rose discovering the dark side of the pioneers' westward expansion (and its devastating consequences for Native Americans), this is tacked on extremely awkwardly at the end of Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life rather than being incorporated throughout Tougas' featured storyline, (and with the author in my opinion also kind of deliberately trivialising this in Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life by having Rose react to her discovery of this by vandalising the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, by being sillily destructive instead of using intelligence, common sense and verbal debate).

And furthermore, with Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life having Shelley Tougas show Charlotte resenting the move to Walnut Grove, Minnesota (and Laura Ingalls Wilder herself) not so much (at least at first) because she has an inkling or considers that the Little House on the Prairie novels or that Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family might be racist and as such potentially problematic but solely because Charlotte is irritated because she is snarky, pessimistic and that the idea of Laura’s spirit calling out to mother's creative soul and the family then moving to Walnut Grove rubs her the wrong proverbial way and that this interferes with her, with Charlotte's own personal enjoyment, her own wants and desires. And while I actually have enjoyed and still tend to enjoy the Little House on the Prairie stories (for what they are), I have at the same time always been aware of the racism against Native Americans in general that is inherent and omnipresent in Laura Ingalls Wilder's texts, and that I frankly do not all that much think this comes out all that well and all that successfully (and even remotely sufficiently) in Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life, so that for example Shelley Tougas with her featured narrative, with her printed words in Laura Ingalls is Ruining my Life and in 2017 at that considering the character of Ma, of Caroline Ingalls as inherently sweet and gentle even with her obvious and extensive bigotry against ALL Native Americans in basically every single novel in the Little House on the Prairie series that features and/or talks about Native Americans, yes, I do find this quite problematic at best and actually majorly making me textually angry.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because I love the Little House series, however it was a miss for me. While this story is about a family moving to a town made famous by Little House, the similarities to the Ingalls family that we know and love end there. Their dysfunction is heartbreaking, their poor choices abound, and the children in this book very much have to look out for themselves as well as their mother. If you’re looking for a feel good read about a lovely family that moves to Walnut Grove, this is a very different kind of story and may not be the book for you.

[Katy O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling middle grade that presents an honest view of westward expansion and the true nature of the Little House series.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this title.

As a school librarian who has a thought a LOT about the appropriate treatment of the Little House series in today's world, this book made me incredibly happy. At first I was worried that Tougas would give a romanticized view of Laura's world, but she blew me away with her historically accurate and honest inclusion of the real impacts of westward expansion on American Indians and the environment. I felt that this information was included in a non-preachy and middle grade-friendly way.

Charlotte and her siblings are written in an age-appropriate way and really convey just how damaged they are by their constant moving and their mom's relative instability. I appreciate that this was done in a way that doesn't overshadow the book with darkness.

In all honesty, despite the love the world has for Laura's books, I would rather have my students and own children read this book rather than the Little House series due to the historical accuracy presented here. However, I still have the Little House series in my library and teachers are still gushing over the series (which I did love as a child) which means kids will still be wanting to read the books. After they do, I will hand them this book in an attempt to set right a lot of the wrongs portrayed in the series, and give them background on actual events. For kids not interested in reading the series, I hope Tougas' book will be a fun and sneakily-educational read.

This title is a required purchase for any library or classroom with the Little House series, as it presents a counterpoint to the romanticization of westward expansion and extremely racist views of those titles. Highly recommended in other settings for grades 4-6.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good: I loved the central concept of a LHOP-obsessed mom following around Laura Ingalls as her spirit guide. I also liked the twins growing apart storyline and I think middle grade readers will be able to relate to a lot of the "new kid"/outsider narrative.

The bad: So many of the adult characters are either underdeveloped, inappropriate (bumbling cops, boundary-crossing school administrators), or totally outlandish ("Get off my lawn" substitute teacher who openly abandons lesson plans in favor of impromptu and argumentative spelling bees). The potentially super interesting subplot involving Rose & Charlotte discovering the dark side of pioneers' westward expansion is tacked on awkwardly at the end rather than incorporated throughout.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 This was a quick YA read for 12 years and older.

Charlotte's mom, a writer, has moved her 3 children around so much that they have become the new kids over and over and know the drill of bullies and insecurity their life holds. This time, though, Mom needs inspiration for her new novel in Walnut Grove, where Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up. Mom needs the spirit of Laura to help her write a bestselling book, despite seeing her children unhappy.

The novel was okay to read and shows the fear of so much insecurity the kids must endure for the sake of a single mom following her dream and running away from problems she creates.

The plot was a little dumb and unnecessary and rambled but it was an okay read overall. Sometimes it's just nice to read something easy and different.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

We've been reading this as an afternoon read-aloud with our youngest three kids (ages 6, 10 and 14). All in all, the kids liked it but there was a lot of screaming at the book. Full disclosure, that was mostly by me. ;)

The book itself and the plot are not bad. The main character is 12 y/o Charlotte, who moves to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, with her twin brother, younger sister, and flaky mom. The mother is a rather one-dimensional character who uses essential oils and crystals and asks things of the universe, all the while dragging her kids around the country because she can't seem to hold down a good job or keep her bills paid and keeps wanting to travel to something better -- which is ironically very similar to the real life Pa Ingalls but the author doesn't seem to get that. Charlotte is used to being the new kid and has dealt with that by choosing to be invisible and generally assuming the worst about everybody and everything. Slowly, she realizes she can make friends and see things differently through her time in Walnut Grove, though mostly through making a bunch of dumb decisions and assumptions that force her to learn the error of her ways over time around a bunch of amazingly one-dimensional but mostly friendly middle-schoolers who could be easily replaced by cardboard cutouts of different nationalities. Most of them are not even given names for most of the book (they are referred to as things like "purple glasses girl") but they are also not given an iota of personality or person-hood.

The biggest problem I have with the book won't be a problem for most readers. My problem is that we live right next to the real Walnut Grove where this is supposed to take place and it is so INFURIATINGLY wrong in almost every way about what Walnut Grove is like. This is our life. These are our people. The Westbrook-Walnut Grove school is across the street from our house.

It was truly maddening to read a huge book where almost everything said about where we live is ridiculous and/or wrong. We could tell the author had visited Walnut Grove and used a Google map because she accurately described where the park was in town and she did know that the grocery store is Asian (Hmong). I think she probably did walk through the museum. But that seemed to be the extent of her real information about Walnut Grove. For instance, she has the main characters go to the Walnut Grove school despite the fact that it's not in Walnut Grove (the middle school and high school is in Westbrook, only the elementary school kids from our two towns go to school in Walnut Grove).

She made up a character called "Bad Chad" who hid under the slide of the park smoking cigarettes and would attack kids who passed by. I cannot tell you how utterly ridiculous that is. I'm surprised I didn't break something with how often my eyes rolled reading about Bad Chad.

She also made people in Walnut Grove seem like absolute back woods morons. Charlotte gets a job at the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum and when she suggests putting photos of their display items online, one of the museum workers says, "I'm not an interneter. Is that even possible?".

Yeah, and we're afraid if you take our pictures that you'll steal our souls too.

The story itself was okay. The characters were not fully fleshed out and tended to be cliched. The kids didn't tend to talk like real kids I know but like the fake 1950's talk that grown ups give kids in some books (for instance, they don't even say things like "suck" for when things are bad, they say "stink"). I found the book far more annoying than my kids did. My oldest son tended to shout outbursts a lot and say that he hated some of the characters and the author, but he did stick around and listen to it which I appreciated (he played games on his phone while listening, which was fine with me since I appreciate that he's a little old for read-alouds and hangs out with us to do this).

You won't learn much of anything new about Laura (except that she didn't consider Native Americans people and one book was reworded after outcry about that, which you might not know) and you certainly won't learn anything true about Walnut Grove. You will learn a bit about homesteading and the transcontinental railroad (subjects Charlotte has to study in school) and maybe not making assumptions about people, but not really, because we never even get to meet Bad Chad and find out why he supposedly lurks under the slide even in the depths of winter and the middle of the night to pulverize innocent passing kids.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Twelve-year-old Charlotte has bounced from city to city with her twin brother, Freddy, half-sister Rose and mother Martha for a long-time. There are always new schools and new kids. This time, Charlotte’s mom relocates to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, known as one of the prairie towns where Laura Ingalls lived in the 1870’s. Charlotte’s mom and sister Rose are obsessed with Ingalls’ stories. Mom even wants to write a Laura-inspired story about life on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.

Charlotte is fed up with Laura Ingalls and Walnut Grove and has a hard time adjusting to a new school since her twin Freddy has become Mr. Popular! She fakes dumb and spends lunchtime with her teacher in order to avoid the kids in the lunchroom. The teacher assigns her work about historical topics like westward expansion, the Homestead Act, and the plight of the Native Americans. Being more enlightened about history and frustrated with her mom’s lack of spending time writing her great novel, Charlotte writes about how “Laura Ingalls is ruining my life.” She ends up working at the local Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum for coming in second in the essay contest. Later she is accused of vandalizing the museum but did not and tries to find the person who did. I was completely surprised by who was the real culprit!

I’d recommend this book to kids who love the Little House books as it references places and situations from the series. However, it isn’t necessary to have read those books to enjoy the story. This was a page-turner and a great example of realistic fiction with a strong sense of family plus a mystery to solve.

-Sara H.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a nice job connecting the past and present without being preachy or too dry. Charlotte believably transforms from an untrusting child into someone willing to take chances and make friends. Readers will feel her struggle to hope that her family will finally stay put somewhere. And that her mother will settle into a quiet and stable life.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a copy of Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

Happy Review Day here on Dr. Hodges Reads! Today, I am reviewing an advanced copy of Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life by Shelley Tougas. This book will be released on October 10, 2017!

To begin, I want to say that the reason I requested this title is because I am a huge fan of the Little House series. When I was in 2nd grade, I began reading these books and could not get enough of them. I remember being proud of myself for tackling such a large book (these topped out over 300 pages, y'all), and how many feelings I had while I read. The perils of the prairie and the sacrifices the Ingalls family made kept me coming back for more.

Once I finished the series, the love of reading was deeply ingrained in me, and I needed more books. This sparked a rush on reading the classics of the time - The Wizard of Oz, A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and Little Women. I believe many of these books shaped me as a reader and truly helped foster my love of reading.

In Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life, we meet Charlotte Lake. Charlotte and her family are nomads, constantly moving to new cities for her mother's passion. Charlotte's mother wants to be a published author and wants to write a book about Laura Ingalls, who was inspirational to her as a child. Charlotte is embarrassed by her mother's obsession and frustrated at always having to start a new school and new life. She never feels like she fits in anywhere. To complicate her life more, she has a twin brother who has taken a vow of silence, since he feels his voice is not being heard in the moves, and a younger sister who is perfect. Charlotte struggles to make friends and find her niche among so many moves.

The family has now relocated to Walnut Grove, one of the places Laura Ingalls grew up. It houses a Laura Ingalls museum that hosts an essay contest each year. In a spark of brilliance, Charlotte decides to enter the contests and win the grand prize of $500. She knows this money will change her family's life and maybe help her mother put down some roots. As the contest deadline nears, Charlotte becomes very ill with the flu and misses over a week of school, and time to create her essay. At the last moment, she furiously scribbles out the line, "Laura Ingalls is ruining my life," and turns that in as her essay. Her clever teacher reads this and probes Charlotte to write more and dig deeper, which she does.

I won't spoil whether Charlotte wins or loses and what happens next...you'll have to read yourself. Overall, I found the book to be sweet and very appropriate for elementary readers. I also think this would make a fun read-aloud, as the problems Charlotte faces are typical of elementary children. While my love for Laura Ingalls runs deep, this was a difficult book for me to review, so I'm going to approach this review from two perspectives.

As a child who grew up loving Laura Ingalls, this was an amazing read. I really enjoyed getting to see the Little House books from the perspective of Charlotte's mother. She is the child, like me, who grew up reading and loving these books. I liked getting to see a new generation fall in love with this series and see how the new generation questions the books. Charlotte completes a social studies unit in school that focuses on the native tribes during the Ingalls pioneering journey. I also liked the references to the books, which made me remember details I hadn't thought about in a while.

As an educator, I'm not sure who to recommend this book to. One phenomenon I see now is revitalizing classics with retellings or inspired books such as this one. However, a person who grew up reading Little House is not the intended audience, it's kids today. I would only want a child who had read the Little House books to read this book, because there are spoilers (such as Mary going blind). I wouldn't want those to be spoiled for a child who might read the series. At the same time, this book is intended for a young, elementary audience. I don't think an older child who read the Little House books would enjoy this book because the problems the character faces are very much at the elmentary school level.

In short, I liked this book and would definitely want it in my classroom and in the hands of kids. However, I would be pretty selective on who I recommended this book to and at what point I gave this book to a child. If the spoilers to the Little House books were removed, I think this could be a great gateway to that series.

I gave this 4/5 stars on Goodreads! Happy Reading!

[Lisa Laureano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how Tougas takes the narrator, Charlotte, on her journey of growth when her family moves yet again. The "messiness" of her family's situation and dynamics make a smart parallel to the Ingalls family of the Little House books, which had some messiness of its own outside of Laura's sanitized and idealized books. Charlotte's mom, like Charles Ingalls, is a restless dreamer who sometimes moves in order to outrun creditors-- as did Charles Ingalls himself.

As Charlotte deals with the consequences of the trauma of never having lived in one place long enough to belong, and the sudden loss of the mutual support/security blanket of her relationship with her twin, Freddy, she begins also to process American history through the help of her teacher and by virtue of the fact that the place to which her mother has relocated the family is in fact Walnut Grove, Minnesota, one-time home of Laura Ingallls and her family. Charlotte analyzes the high cost that many people have paid for westword expansion-- Chinese railroad workers, Native Americans, and poor immigrants from many lands, and engages thoughtfully on what her teacher calls the unintended consequences of history. Tougas even brings up the recent controversy that has chucked Laura Ingalls Wilder's books off of some school reading lists, namely the attitudes expressed toward Native Americans in several places in the books. The awakening of social consciousness as part of adolescence is a beautiful thing to me, and I think Tougas handles it beautifully-- not too didactically.

The tone of the title-- somewhere between defiant and spunky-- belies the real heartache that Charlotte is going through, and Tougas' portrayal of Charlotte's many defense mechanisms is really touching and sympathetic. As she struggles to leave behind her mistrust of people and embrace her mother's somewhat hippy-dippy belief in the inherent goodness in everyone, she makes some big mistakes that have drastic unintended consequences of their own.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge thank you to Raincoast for this ARC!

I admit, I am not a huge Little House on the Prairie fan. It's not something I grew up around so I will say I did have a bit of a difficult time with this one. While the story is an adorable tale of a mom moving her kids to the birth place of Laura Ingalls in an attempt to write her masterpiece of a novel, there were a few things that didn't work for me on this one.

On one hand, this is a story about friendship and growing up, but I won't lie and say that Charlotte is a likable character. In this regard, I think Tougas does a good idea of showing how easily judgmental children can be. These issues of friendship in particular are handled well and I feel like the children in this story were far better developed than the adult characters. It was great to watch Charlotte develop friendships with Bao and Julia, and I appreciated that their discomfort of each other went both ways.

The adults in this book, however, are the actual problem. They are very flat or lacking in any characterization. Charlotte's mother in particular was a bit of a caricature as opposed to a character, as her only defining characteristic is her positive attitude. Whenever Charlotte deals with her in the story, those bits were sometimes difficult to shallow because I felt like Charlotte's mother forcing her positive attitude may not have been what was best for her children. There's also her obsession with Laura Ingalls, which I admit, I didn't understand or really care for. I think if I had been a fan of Little House this book likely would have appealed more to me.

With all this said, I do think Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life is a delightful read for the most part. There's moments of well-timed humor and I think Charlotte is a heroine that many kids will be able to relate to whether they like her or not. I am still glad I read this book and gave it a chance, and I'm curious as to what Shelley Tougas has in store for middle grade audiences in the future.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlotte has had to move from one place to another too many times to count. With each move, she's learned to keep her head down and her heart safe since she knows all too well just how unwelcoming some students can be to anyone new to their school and because she knows she's rarely in one place long enough to make friends. This move to Walnut Grove, Minnesota is sure to be like all the rest of the family's relocations. Her mother's inability to pay the bills or her will-o-the-wisp ways and search for the rainbow just around the bend will surely mean yet another move. But as her mother struggles to write the book she claims was inspired by Laura Ingalls, who lived in Walnut Grove for a time, Charlotte watches as her twin brother, Freddy, branches out and finds other friends, and as her younger sister Rose tries to take his place in her life. Readers will enjoy watching the characters grow as Charlotte encounters a teacher, Mrs. Newman, who realizes some of the secrets she's been hiding and urges her to take a chance on friendship. Even though Charlotte makes many mistakes and errors in judgment, her heart is in the right place, and it's clear that she is hurting and lonely. As someone who grew up reading those ubiquitous Little House books and longed to know more, I found this book interesting in many respects, including the tidbits about the author that were provided and how some of the characters connected with Laura while also coming to understand the disastrous effects the Westward Expansion had on the Native Americans who lived on the land the pioneers took from them. This book is a great read aloud for intermediate grades. Undoubtedly, anyone who's ever had to move and keep reinventing themselves or starting over will relate to Charlotte's story, but so will anyone who must learn to live in a small town after living in a more urban area. The author makes the region and characters come to life with her descriptions of the challenging weather as well as her careful attention to details and feelings that have lain dormant for quite a while.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up at an Ollie's either this year or last basking in the glow of my newfound love of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I'm currently making my way through the series featuring Laura's daughter Rose and I vastly prefer her series to the source material. Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life is a catchy title and I had to know what it meant. Our heroine Charlotte and her family move around a lot and they end up in the author's hometown of Walnut Grove, MN. The protagonist was a sour apple and her bitterness really hindered her from making new connections in her new town. She put up a block and tried to drag her twin into her black hole of anger. Since finishing the original series, I did notice a lot of homages to the Little House franchise. There were characters named after the Wilder’s family tree like Charlotte and Rose. The family read from the original books and learned valuable lesson from Laura. This gave me faint honeyglow feelings, but it was ultimately ruined by the protagonist's constant dishonesty. Is it that hard to tell the truth? Goodness gracious! I'm happy I picked this up for another lover of LIW just like me. Always and forever, my prairie queen!

[Liz Friend · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story: Charlotte's family has moved, AGAIN, and she's the new girl in school. Again. Her policy of avoiding eye contact and making friends has worked before, but now it seems that her twin brother, always her reliable ally, has deserted her to make some friends of his own. Now she's stuck hanging with Rose, their younger sister, and thinking it's a set-up when other girls are nice. It's only when she channels the spirit of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the town's most famous resident, that she realizes life on the prairie can be good, even if it's hard. But will their footloose mom pull up stakes and ruin things again?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (parental neglect, bullying) PG, overall rating G.

Liz's comments: A cute, if lightweight, story about the dangers and rewards of opening yourself up to friendship. Grades 4-7.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still have so much to learn....  On first read-through, there were some points in the text that didn't sit right:  the Asian boy was called Chuck because no one could pronounce his name?  The Hmong people were like Vietnamese but not the same?  Ma hates hates hates Indians?  I cringed as I read through the chapters.  Towards the end, I felt the author started to swing back towards a better historical story but was it enough???

I re-read the book recently....there were pieces I loved and pieces I hated.  I loved that students could relate to so much of Charlotte's life--mom's moving from relationship to relationship and home to home, lack on money, single parents, etc.  So much good!  And I hated even more the pieces that were making me cringe.

I'm including this IMPORTANT REVIEW here as I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to speak to this topic:

American Indians in Childrens Lit

Although I love pieces of this book, it won't be on my order list.


grade:  D
audience:  middle school, middle grade, junior high, please use caution and respect if using this book; what may seem harmless to you could be very damaging to a non-Caucasian reader


Quotes/Author:
"a land so quiet and empty the wind had nothing to blow" 5
"the land was so flat a ball wouldn't roll without a hard kick"  4
"the town was so small it reminded me of a little porcelain Christmas village."  13
"I live a stone's throw from Walnut Grove.  You'll like it.  It's a nice little town.  People are friendly but not too friendly, if you know what I mean.  "  9
"...we were little, Mom would take her guitar to the beach in Tampa.  She's play and we'd sing, and tourists would drop money in her guitar case.  then we'd use the money for gas."  18
"Our Twin Superpowers seemed intact.  But something was different."  20
"And our dad might be a train wreck, or maybe he's not.  We don't know."   "I guess."  All Mom told us about our dad is they met in Boston, and he broke her heart.  We don't remember anything about him.  She's day, "He's not the man I thought he was."  22
"....Rose's dad, Reydel "Rey" Mendoza.  He also was not the man she thought he was.  Nor were any of her other boyfriends."  22
"Walnut Grove was so small people had to go to Iowa to find a waterslide." 26
"The harvest is a metaphor for growth.  Do you think it's too quiet?"    "Is quiet another word for boring?"  Julia asked.
"So if you don't want to get bullied, avoid eye contact.  If you don't want to get dumped, avoid eye contact."  34
"Once a boy asked Freddy if he could hear the sound of being punched; then he punched Freddy in the stomach."  44
"Boys bully with their fists.  Girls bully with their words."  44
"And Ma, who is the sweetest character in the book, hates Indians, and I mean hates hates hates them.  Maybe it was because the Ingallses built their cabin on Indian land, and the Indians weren't too happy about it.  In the end, both the Indians and the Ingallses pack up their stuff and move. The Indians are forced to leave their hunting lands, and the Ingallses end up on the banks of Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, because all Pa want to do is move."  46  when I first read this, I had red flags flying,  so much wrong with this, works itself out in the end
"....girls couldn't stick up for boys.  it made the boy look weak, and bullies could smell weakness."  53
"Freddy had not only talked to those boys; he'd accepted an invitation to go to a football game. " 54
"Laura Ingalls Essay By Charlotte Lake LAURA INGALLS IS RUINING MY LIFE!!!!!!"  55
"I've heard Minnesota is worse.  It's possible to die in cold weather."  64
"Mrs. Newman was using her I-care-about-you smile and her I-don't-care-about-you eyes."  66
"I was just telling Rose about her dad getting married and how happy I am for him and how having a stepmother will be a beautiful experience.  Now she'll have two moms who love her."  66
"had an Asian name--something like Chue--and everyone called him Chuck."  70  talking about nicknames for kids - but students calling an Asian boy Chuck because they can't pronounce his name-- NOT ok - would like to see a better model of how to address a student name when you don't know how to pronounce their name - dissappointing
"It's living history.  I really need this.  just close your eyes and listen to the crickets and the frogs.  These are the exact same sounds Laura heard 150 years ago."  72  mom is feeling inspiration from the spirit of Laura and her experiences
"If you've heard people say something is as boring as watching paint dry, well, the Manifest Destiny essay would bore the paint."  79
"The decisions we make have consequences; some of  those consequences are intended and some are not intended."  81
"Winter had come to Walnut Grove like a toddler having a tantrum" 91
"People kept moving west to get free land, and nobody really thought much about things like who could put up fences and who could block the way to rivers and lakes.  The government didn't' plan for conflict between farmers who wanted to plant crops and ranchers who wanted the land for the cattle." 97
"Homesteading laws brought a wave of pioneers eager to own land in the West and make their fortune.  They left the relative comfort of the East and discovered they were unprepared for the harsh life and isolation.  Settlers spread out, making it difficult to socialize.  News of the outside world came sporadically.  Visiting family back East was a near impossibility.  Medical care was scarce, and sick children often died.  Settlers worked dawn to dusk and lived in a constant state of exhaustion.  Sometimes they went hungry.  They were unprepared for weather--heat and storms in summer; blizzards in the winter.  The howling prairie winds drove people mad.  Violence, alcoholism, and suicide..."  97
"...the howling prairie winds hadn't exactly driven her to alcohol or violence or suicide.  She'd been driven to sighing and napping and not washing her hair"  98
"they weren't always honest about the type of land.  So people ended up moving to desolate places that weren't' good for farming, like parts of Oklahoma and Texas.  The government got people to grow wheat on soil that was best used for buffalo grazing.  So those people farmed and farmed, and when a big drought hit, the buffalo grasses were gone--grasses that would have held the dirt in place.  When the winds came in the 1930s, they churned dirt into storms that looked like black tidal waves sweeping across the land.  People died from pneumonia because of dust in their lungs.  Animals died.  Crops died.  Houses were practically buried in dirt.  The sky refused to rain.
"Without saying anything, I sat down on the floor next to Rose.  And just like that, I was part of the circle. "  106
"Dakota Sioux Conflict because it was essentially a war that happened right here in southwestern Minnesota.  The whole thing was overshadowed by the Civil War, so most people know very little  about it.  You'll make some connections between it and the Ingalls family."  "Like Ma hating Indians?"  "In a way," she said.  "No doubt she'd heard about Indians killing settlers in southwestern Minnesota, and she was afraid."   "It's not like she could call 911."     "Indians were afraid of the settlers, too.  The government broke treaty after treaty.  They didn't give the Indians supplies that were promised, and then Indians were afraid they'd starve that winter."    114
"Laura Ingalls did an injustice when she wrote On the Banks of Plum Creek because she never named the town.  You will not find the words Walnut Grove anywhere in that book.  In the television show, yes.  The book? No."
"Apparently Laura hadn't considered unintended consequences of not naming the town--museum ladies 150 years later would hold a grudge."  118
"I came up with a new observation:  if you don't have clever stories or jokes, then ask questions."  127
"The Hmong moved to Minnesota.  The Hmong mostly lived in Saint Paul, but the old people worried about the crime in the city and whether their kids would get in trouble, and they wanted to live in a small town where things are safe and clean and good for families.  I heard that someone's kid was a fan of Little House on the Prairie, so she said, 'How about Walnut Grove?'  And some of them moved here and sent word to their friends and families that it was a good place.  More and more moved here, and now the town is twenty-five percent hmong.  Maybe even more.  That's a bigger percentage of Asian people than in most big cities."  133
another girl in the class wrote: "She wrote that we should have a museum for Native Americans because they lived around here first, and they had these battles with settlers.  She said the early farmers shouldn't be called settlers because the land was already settled.  They were more like invaders."  134
"She changed the timeline and left out lots of things that weren't appropriate for kids to read...like witnessing alcoholism and violence--prairie madness"  138
"Negative words breed negative thinking, and negative thinking creates an atmosphere of sadness and despair."  139
Charlotte, "I think it's better to not have a dad than to have one and watch him turn into a jerk.  I just assume my dad is a jerk.  Then I don't miss him."  150
Charlotte, "I think people show their bad sides most of the time .  If you're a good person, you have to be careful or you'll get crushed."  150
Julia, "I realized I'd rather have two amazing friends than a bunch of people who just follow me around because I have expensive clothes and cute hair and the fanciest house in town."  151
"In the winter, the regular temperature could kill you.  The regular temperature plus a wind chill could kill you faster."  153
"When Mom and I stepped onto the driveway, I inhaled and got an instant case of brain freeze, like I'd stuffed ice cubes in my nose.  Every breath felt like a knife stabbing my head and then my chest Even my eyeballs hurt."  156
"this is the first place where you and I really hang out.  Freddy has his own thing.  But here you and I can be a team"  163
"you could die from icicle injuries"  171
"Cold enough for ya?"  171
"Minnesotans think everybody else has an accent.  They don't even notice how they say Minnah-soooootah."  171
"Kids like Chad grow up in a negative environment, and that's what they project in the world."  182
"We have a deal.  He lets me know news first so I'm prepared to help Rose.  What is going on with him?  It's like he's so caught up in this woman he's forgetting his daughter."  197
"Try to think of it this way:  you and Freddy aren't growing apart, you're just growing up.  you and Freddy were so close that it kept you from interacting with the world.  "  good for any relationship  197
"Westward expansion stunk if you were Native American"  208
"Charlotte, don't think for a second that she forgot you.  Because, my dear, you are unforgettable."  210
Mrs. Newman says, "We also need to let Charlotte know that it's a lie to say you committed a crime just because adults are pressuring you to do so."
Mrs. Newman said, "I want you to know there are people in your corner."  225
police have a copy of Charlotte's I hate Laura essay and that makes her look more suspect
"Children, this business of group work means on thing:  a couple of good kids do all the work, and the rest of the lazy ninnyhammers do nothing.  If we're going to break into teams, we'll drill with math flashcards."  then she asks the Asian boy where the flashcards are kept??????  ACK!
"It's a crime to vandalize a building, but it's a much worse crime to falsely accuse someone of a crime or to lie to police."235
"Who cared about Bad Chad?  He was rotten to the core.  He smoked.  He tormented kids.  He hurt Freddy.  he stuck my mom with a bill she couldn't afford to pay.  Even if Bad Chad didn't do it--and obviously he did--everyone knew he'd eventually be a professional criminal.  Somewhere there was a jail cell with his name on it."  238
Charlotte, "I'd been the same invisible version of myself in every place I've ever lived."  240
"I'd assumed the worst.   Again.  A big, fat, epic mistake."  245
mom again with a winning comment "Lying is not okay, but you did it out of fear, not malice.  That's an important distinction.  "  250
"She made a choice.  She could've kept her nose out of it, but she defended a kid.  And defending a kid is a pretty good choice. "  253
so typical Minnesotan, "we'll have at least eight inches on the ground by morning.  Temperatures will drop to five degrees, but it'll feel like minus twenty with the wind chill.  Expect gusts of wind up to thirty miles an hour.  We'll report school closings as they come in."  254
Rose, "Laura Ingalls doesn't love us!  She won't connect with Mom.  Laura's energy is angry because Mom is writing about Mars instead of the prairie.  if that book doesn't start writing itself, we'll have to leave.  Freddy will lose all those friends, and he'll hog you all to himself.  Just like before.  I'll be an only child all over again, only this time Dad won't want me, either."  256
"Someone will call.  Mia gave each of us a cookie.   'Any minute.'  Minutes passed.  An hour passed.  The phone didn't ring."  265
Charlotte, "was it possible to be happy and relieved to see her but also feel angry?  Worse than angry--furious.  It was like sweating in the cold.  Nothing in Walnut Grove made sense."  273
Rose, "I read Charlotte's school assignment about the Trail of Tears.  The article was about how settling the West destroyed the Indians.  They literally had to walk hundreds of miles so the pioneers could have their land.  And they got sick and there wasn't enough food. and the weather was terrible, but the government didn't' care and the pioneers didn't care.   The Indians had to keep marching, and tons of them died...We have museums all over the United States bragging about how great we are because we built a new country.  We have books and movies and songs.  But our stories are wrong."  276
Rose, "In the first version of Little house on the Prairie, which came out almost one hundred years ago, Laura described the prairie like this:  "There the wild animals wandered and fed as though they were in a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no people.  Only Indians lived there."  277
Rose, "She said no people.  Only Indians.  She basically said Indians aren't people."  277
Rose, "Someone wrote to the publisher, and they changed the word people to settlers for the next printing.  Laura felt terrible about it.  She didn't mean it the way it came out."  277
Charlotte, "We're...healing.  You can't have...um, joy...if you don't sometimes have pain."  279
Freddy, "I don't care about being Mr. Popular.  I care about having two or three friends.  Or just one friend. "  283
Charlotte has some anger issues, Freddy,  "When you're that mad, Charlotte, you're impossible.  I thought I'd let it cool down a bit."  285
not enough room to end

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

@kidlitexchange #partner

Thank you to @kidlitexchange for a free copy of Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life by Shelley Tougas in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life is a perfect read if you grew up reading or watching Little House on the Prairie. It brought a flood of nostalgic feelings back to my reading life, leaving me wanting to go back and reread (and rewatch) the original. Tougas highlights all the ways in which Laura Ingalls Wilder portrays life on the prairie, including many ways in which she misrepresents the people and the experience. The main character, Charlotte, moves to Walnut Grove with her twin brother, little sister, and their dog's ashes after their mother has a dream about Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a writer, Charlotte's mom needs the inspiration only Laura's childhood can provide, causing upheaval in everyone's lives, especially Charlotte's. When they finally arrive, however, Charlotte's mom begins to spiral into a depression, struggles to write about the prairie, and breaks her promises to her children. Blaming Laura for all her family problems, Charlotte expresses her disdain for Walnut Grove in an essay assignment, explaining in detail all the ways Laura has ruined her life. Perfect for adults needing a tug on their nostalgic heartstrings and middle-grade readers that want to see how life on the prairie compares to the past. I gave it three stars because I am also a girl stuck between my love of modern and rural life.

Tougas does a splendid job of highlighting the ways in which Laura Ingalls Wilder romanticized life on the prairie, and even misrepresented the Native American population that lived there before the settlers. There is so many great conversations (and conversation starters) about who writes history and accurate portrayals of the past. Parents and educators would do well to read this along with their younger readers, so those conversations can be had and even further research can be provided. This would be a delightful book to read in tandem with the original books by Laura Ingalls Wilder so that students are provided more context for Charlotte's feelings toward Walnut Grove.

While Walnut Grove takes center stage in this novel (how could it not with that title?!), there are plenty of characters that help you remember that this story is about Charlotte and not Laura. Charlotte's brother has taken a vow of silence in protest against their recent family move. Charlotte's sister sleeps with their recently deceased dog's ashes every night. The list goes on and on.

While light and easy to read, there are some deeper topics explored throughout the novel. Charlotte's mother struggles to write her book and thus spirals into a light depression. Her struggle with self-confidence and her choice to isolate herself from her family has a sad effect on Charlotte in particular, which also opens up opportunities for discussion.

While adults who enjoyed the Little House books are not the intended audience, I am sure they will enjoy this book as much as I did. The middle grade readers do not need to have read the Little House series before tackling this novel. Although it would be a good supplement to explore Wilder's impact on her childhood home. There are some light Little House spoilers, particularly those involving Laura's sister, Beth.

Overall, I liked this book and would keep it in my classroom (and probably would actively push it into the hands of my students). It displays the impact of our writing (for both Charlotte and Wilder), and helps students see the importance of proper representation in history.

TL/DR: Great for those who love Little House and those who have never read a page of it.
Rating: 3/5 stars

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

How was I going to pass up buying a book called "Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life"? And it was such a cute story. It is the contemporary story of a girl named Charlotte who has a twin brother named Freddy and a younger sister named Rose. Their mother is raising them on her own and they move from town to town with regularly. No where really becomes home. Walnut Grove, Minnesota was supposed to be just another town. Charlotte's mom picked it just because she wants to be surrounded by all things Laura Ingalls Wilder as she attempts to write her own young adult novel.

I loved all the mentions of the book and LIW's real life story. The book brings up the fictional pieces of the story as well as points out some things about the real author's life. Shelley Tougas most definitely knows her Laura Ingalls Wilder history and weaves it masterfully through this novel. I found nothing to nitpick about as far as the representation of Laura and her life in this story. Charlotte even gets to spend some time volunteering in Walnut Grove's LIW museum!

The story itself is mostly cute. There is a lot of family relationship interplay as Charlotte worries about losing the close friendship she has with her twin Freddy and Rose struggles with coming to terms with her absent father. The kids worry about their mom's depression and tiptoe on eggshells around her trying to avoid another move. That is because for the first time the three siblings seem to be happy in a town. They make friends and hesitantly start to put down their own roots.

My real problem here is the mother's character. She obviously is severely depressed and maybe even mentally ill in other ways. She seems like Charles Ingalls in that the wind is always blowing her to move but oddly enough the book doesn't say anything about her being like Charles. She even moves away when her bills catch up with her which Charles did in real life (never in the books!). But suddenly she was just better? I don't really understand this. She loved her kids but she really wasn't doing right by them most of the time. It didn't sit well with me. That is my one complaint. Otherwise I truly enjoyed this story and the references to my favorite author if of all time.

[Terrie Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recent surgery brought me face to face with a staph infection. This means I've spent lots of time lazing about because I'm too weak to do much of anything else. The neighbor girls, who are voracious readers, have very kindly been loaning me books, and this one was in the latest batch of loaners.

I don't mind telling you that as an official fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House series, my whole being perked up just reading the title of this book, and while I would imagine readers who haven't enjoyed her series might not be quite so drawn to the book (it's sort of like talking about your affection for Jon Snow or Tyrion Lannister if you've never immersed yourself in the waters of A Game of Thrones), truth is, there's much to enjoy about this little gem.

While much of the story is tongue-in-cheek funny, and told from the perspective of a girl who knows that moving yet again to foster her mother's writing habit won't make her mother a better writer, the story is also about a girl who is forced to "be the adult" because the adult refuses to do the job. No, Mom isn't a "bad mom" but she is flighty, and reading about her half-intelligent decisions made me think about all the times in my own life when I thought a place, a dress, a car, a whatever was what I needed to make me happy and successful.

In fact, as mom and daughter both learn, we are the only ones who can choose to be content - or something other, and Tougas does a lovely job of gently placing reminders that we're all climbing mountains every day. Or, in this case, surviving the high gales of the prairie.

Sweet story, excellent storytelling, and so close to five stars because it's wholesome without being squeaky clean or preachy. Good job, Shelley!

[Angela Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just had to get this book when I saw Laura Ingalls in the title. When I read what the book was about it sounded like I was reading about my daughter and I even though my daughter is an adult. I love everything Laura related and would love to one day write a book and we just moved back to Missouri not far from where she wrote her books, although that is not why we moved here. My daughter I know gets tired of hearing about Laura. I liked how the author used many names that were related to Laura's life. If by accident or on purpose I still liked it. Martha was Laura's great grandma, Freddie was her brother that passed away as a baby, Rose was her daughter's name and Charlotte was her doll's name. When I started this book I thought I would connect with the mom more but I found myself connecting with Charlotte more. I felt bad for her and hoped she would be able to find something to make her happier. You must read the book to find out if she becomes happy, I can't say or it will ruin the book. I will say that this book goes through emotions and how kids handle them. Even though this book was written for a younger age group it was very enjoyable and was a "hearty" book. I recommend this book for all your tweens and yourself alike.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, I was so excited to read this book. It ended up being nothing like my expectations, but it was a great contemporary middle grade story with substance and heart. It touches on issues of poverty, racism, bullying, and more in a way that feels neither idealistic nor fatalistic. Charlotte is kind of a jerk sometimes, but I still found myself rooting for her at the end. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll buy this for my little Southwest library because I'm afraid it will be hard to recommend. As other reviewers have said, there are Little House spoilers galore and it's very much tied to its Midwestern location. That said, I'll be sure to recommend it to my librarian friends with the hopes that it's just right for somebody.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley to read in exchange for an honest review.

[Krisi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chose this book for the title as it appealed immensely to both me and my young library companion; we both happen to be avid Laura Ingall's fans who live near the Almanzo Wilder homestead in northern New York State. This was an interesting read with an engaging storyline which addresses so many of the true life stresses of today's school children. I recommend this book to family's together to open wonderful discussions betwixt them about their own local social structures, stresses, supports, and situations.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really felt for Charlotte. She is so guarded. She expects and assumes the worst. Sometimes her choices made me crazy! But things have to fall apart sometimes so they can be put back together in a better way. The teacher was my favorite part of the story!

You do not have to be a fan of Ingalls Wilder or Little House to follow the story. Great historical pieces about the impact of western expansion on the country.

[Challice · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Definitely elements of modern middle grade fiction.
Children upset about their umpteenth move. Immature mother, divorced dad replacing love with new family, twin issues, and just, our main protagonist is just a very whiny and grumpy person.
What I did love was how they use the love of Laura Ingalls to provide a back story to more of realistic history but not in a bashing way. That was nice.
I guess the thing that really bothered me was that even this character didnt have a slow blossoming into a likeable character. Itbwas more of a, "she has a hard life so shes entitled to be this way". Meh.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my ten-year-old daughter. It pulls off being a story about a present day middle school girl and her family and how complicated it is to love Laura Ingalls and her family while also understanding the reality of the pioneers, “settling” a country that was already settled by the Native people who lived here.

[Katie Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

August Book #4

As a lifelong Laura fan, this was a cute read about a girl who moves to Walnut Grove Minnesota and her adventures there. It was fun to pick out the little nods at Laura throughout the book!

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

An awful lot of preteen angst and drama in this book. It's cute and does a good job of giving background info and teaching about history without being boring. The family issues somewhat overshadow the Laura Ingalls storyline, but it seems somewhat relatable for a young kid.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life is an engaging and heartwarming story. While I am a long time Laura fan, you don't have to be one to enjoy this book!

[Alice Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it’s considered YA, this 72 yo former teacher loved it! There’s a touch of American history, but primarily it involves the reader in family dynamics and friendships of all ages.

[Emy Stover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it -- I could have been that mother dragging her children to where Laura Ingalls grew up.

I thought it was pretty realistic comparisons of how the kids in the story were growing up with how the Ingalls kids grew up.

It was a quick read for an adult. I'd recommend for 5th grade and up .