O Pioneers begins "thirty years ago" - that is, thirty years before the book's publication in 1913, which would set it the 1880s. It follows the life of Alexandra Bergson, the oldest child of Swedish immigrants. When her father dies, Alexandra is still in her teens, but he leaves her in charge of the family farm - a wise if unconventional choice for the time.

I probably wouldn't have read this book if I hadn't been working on a 50 States Reading Challenge. But I needed a book set in Nebraska, and somewhere along the way I'd read something (probably a short story, most likely in a literature textbook) by Willa Cather, so I thought I should give this a try.

I'm glad I did. I found myself rooting for Alexandra to succeed despite everything life threw at her. My copy has a different cover, and it seems more like Alexandra than the one that came up automatically, so I thought I'd include it here.

Nebraska is currently known as the Cornhusker State, but it's apparently had quite a few nicknames over the years.

It was the 37th state to join the union..and I don't think I've ever been there. I do know some people who used to live there, though. :)

Nebraska state flag taken from the Flags of the World (FOTW) website and converted to jpg format. All credits for flag graphics are as shown at FOTW.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Ward & Queen

This blue-covered book (see cover scan above) was left next to the ATM for the 2009 September Sapphire Release Challenge.

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This book was set free to find a new reader; I'm so glad you've found it!

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