New Dawn on Rocky Ridge, A (Little House the Rose Years - Book 6)

Dear God, they’ve made Rose into a brat.I went into this, expecting much the same as the earlier books and was shocked at how different the description of Rose was. She’s hit her teenage years and given Laura and Almanzo a few grey hairs between them.In this, Rose decides she’s more in love with Paul than ever, but also possibly in love with a travelling man (not what I was originally thinking, a travelling salesman I would have called him) and being a bit “fresh”, if that’s the correct terminology from those days! She became “bosom buddies” with Elsa, who she meets the travelling salesman through, but nothing ever happens. Apart from Rose getting jealous all over again. She’s just desperate to get into long skirts and desperate to go this fancy finishing school, which is a mere $180 a year.Yes, she has become a brat, desperate to be like the other “cool kiddos” in her school. The book is littered with so much early 1900s slang, it’s unreal. Apparently it was the epitome of coolness to call people “kiddos” and Rose becomes “Buster” and Elsa becomes “Snookums”. It gets a bit too “try hard” with these hip and cool phrases littering the pages.What was interesting about this particular book, was Laura/Mama has a whole two chapters, solely told from her point of view. I won’t ruin it for anyone, but you can probably guess as to why she has two chapters dedicated to her. Although the language was a bit confusing, as she kept being referred to as Laura and then Mama.“EJ” ... sorry, Eliza Jane Wilder also turns up towards the end of the book. I best knew her from the wonderful portrayal that Lucy Lee Flippin gave in the TV series, rather than the books, as it was such a brilliant and memorable performance.After the earlier books, this feels a little different, in the way Rose is described. I can’t decide if this is how Rose actually was or if it’s the author/his daughter/ghostwriter/publisher trying to make her more hip and cool. (Bearing in mind, the author had left 4 unfinished manuscripts at the time of his death in 1995, so they could have been expanded and it potentially shows.) could Rose have described herself as a selfish and uncaring brat? I’m not sure but certainly for me, that’s the way she came across. One of the more enjoyable books of the series, if just to see the crazy change in Rose’s character.

good