As other reviewers have noted, some of the events in this book are similar to a Laura Ingalls Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek. Young Pioneers was written by Wilder's daughter. It's a little bit grimmer in style and substance; it's for older kids, -- maybe 11 or 12.

A young couple marries and goes west to live on a claim. (In the version of the book I read, the couple in the book are named Molly and David. According to other reviews here, the book was originally published under the title Let the Hurricane Roar, with characters' names given as Charles and Caroline -- the names of Laura Ingalls Wilder's parents.

I really like the Little House books, but thought this one was just okay. Partly because of the bare-bones style and plot and partly because so many of the events were already familiar from On the Banks of Plum Creek. (But apparently this book was published about four years before Plum Creek.)

A sweet, quick read from the daughter of the highly acclaimed Little House series. You root for the couple in their times of trail, and rejoice at their reunion. A nice descriptive story of the hard life on the plains.

A super condensed version of the more "exciting" parts of Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, and the Long Winter. Molly and David act as stand-ins for Ma & Pa, who [I guess spoilers ahead if you've never read a single Little House book] marry in the Big Woods and move west to try their hand at farming. They take over a sod shanty on the prairie near a creek, have a baby named David John (though a few times in the book he's mistakenly called Charles John, so clearly the David character was originally Pa but Rose changed the names). They lose their crops to grasshoppers, and David goes east for work while Molly holds down the fort, battling wolves and finding a cow until David returns.

I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It almost felt like to me that I was reading some pioneer "horror" story. I'm glad the ending was what it was at least.

Fans of little house would like this short novel.

Two stars was probably generous. I wouldn't have gotten farther than the first chapter if I hadn't been reading it for class.

Who influenced who?

I’m still in two minds about that. I have grown up reading my mum’s copies of Laura’s books and have progressed into reading anything that I could get my hands on - including the spin-offs, biographies etc.

Obviously the biographies go into quite a lot of detail about Rose “assisting” her mum with the writing of her books, critiquing and editing them, to shape the stories we know and love today.

Let The Hurricane Roar (originally published as Young Pioneers) appears to have been published the year after Little House In The Big Woods (published in 1932, compared to Rose’s 1933 publication date - although this was serialised before it became a book.) You can see a lot of Laura’s storytelling in this, and it’s very much a variation on the Charles & Caroline story. Which in my opinion, could only have been told to Rose by her mum. She would have grown up hearing about this and also perhaps been influenced by the early years of her parents marriage.

It’s based around Molly & David, who marry and move west, to get a homestead. They have to live and work the land, for 5 years, before they can legally own it. Their homestead is called Wild Plum Creek, and just as they’re about to harvest a lot of wheat and have some money behind them - along come the grasshoppers to ruin everything.

Sound familiar?

You will recognise this from Laura’s books and also from the tales told in her biography or something like Pioneer Girl.

It is a very heartwarming story, with Molly left behind with a young son, while David seeks work, travelling where he can, for months at a time. It’s also a very simplistic story, there’s no raciness and it will be suitable for perhaps the young generation who are looking for something else to read after reading Laura’s books.

Would I be interested in reading other Rose books? I think so but from the ones I’ve seen (Free Land and Old Home Town spring to mind), they are not the best prices online, plus Free Land seems to be an older version of a similar story told in this. I also feel a lot of the depression that plagued Rose throughout her life appears in this book, as occasionally there are some dark thoughts in it - Rose seems to be putting perhaps a lot of her own fears and worries into Molly’s character.

I would definitely recommend this if you’re an avid fan of anything Laura, just for comparison’s sake. (Plus, it’s a thin book, only 120 pages, so it will not take long to read.) Obviously we will never know now, how heavily Laura was influenced or whether Rose wrote everything, and there are aficionados who will fight strongly for both sides. I will remain on the fence.