by Rosalyn Eves
Alfred A Knopf, 2021. 371 pages. YA Fiction
Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Bertelsen dreams of becoming an
astronomer, but she knows such dreams are as unreachable as the stars she so
deeply adores. As a Mormon girl, her duty is to her family and, in a not too
far away future, to the man who'll choose to marry her. When she unexpectedly
finds herself in Colorado, she's tempted by the total eclipse of the sun that's
about to happen--and maybe even meeting up with the female scientists she's
long admired. Elizabeth must learn to navigate this new world of possibility:
with her familial duties and faith tugging at her heartstrings, a new romance
on the horizon, and the study of the night sky calling to her, she can't
possibly have it all . . . can she?
This was such an interesting read. I really appreciated how
the author portrayed Elizabeth’s faith and family life. It helped created the
tension that would lead her to think about going all the way to Denver on her
own. The place descriptions in this book are beautiful. Anyone who has been to
Monroe, Utah and traveled through Sevier county will appreciate the attention
to detail. Everything seems to happen to Elizabeth, tragedy, comedy, and
romance. She is a spunky female protagonist who you can really cheer for.
If you liked Beyond
the Mapped Stars, you might also like:
by Stacey Lee
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2015. 374 pages. YA Fiction
In 1845, Sammy, a Chinese American girl, and Annamae, an
African American slave girl, disguise themselves as boys and travel on the
Oregon Trail to California from Missouri.
by Kimberly Holt
Henry Holt, 2009. 309 pages. YA Fiction
Jake Kincaid is a dowser, a person who can find water, but gives up this lifestyle to become a trapper in 1833. While Jake is out trapping, his wife dies. When he returns home he finds that he has a baby son, Amos. Unable to care for an infant and continue trapping, Jake makes sure Amos is taken care of by family. Jake leaves again, but comes back each summer, and tries to get to know his son. Amos struggles to truly know his father. Then when Jake returns in 1841 with a new Shoshone wife, he decides to take Amos back to Missouri. Amos’s
transformative journey to adulthood truly begins when he is 13 and the family
joins a wagon train headed west on the Oregon Trail.
AG
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