Book Review: Little City by the Lake by Celia Wilkins (The Caroline Series #6) (no spoilers)

Book: Little City by the Lake
Author: Celia Wilkins
Publication: April 15th, 2003
Source: Local Library
Read: July 18th-22nd, 2014
Summary (from Goodreads):

Spirit of the Western FrontierFifteen-year-old Caroline is leaving her Concord home for the first time to live with her aunt and uncle in Milwaukee, where she will attend Milwaukee Female College. At first, Caroline is frightened by the big, bustling city, and she finds school more challenging than she expected. But she soon begins to enjoy all the excitement Milwaukee has to offer. As the school year comes to a close, Caroline wonders if living in the city is the life for her.

 Little City by the Lake is the sixth book in The Caroline Years, an ongoing series about another girl from America's favorite pioneer family

.

My Thoughts:

In this novel Caroline is 15 and she is going off to the big city of Milwaukee to attend the Milwaukee Female College to study to be a teacher. It was nice seeing Caroline so grown up and exploring a big city when she is used to small country life. I loved her reaction to the modern conviences we take advantage of today. Could you imagine not having running water? 

There was a lot of things I liked about this book. Meeting Caroline's aunt and uncle, learning about the printing shop, her interaction with her friends, and her interaction with James. I did miss seeing Caroline's family be part of the story. Charlotte (Caroline's mom) had a very small part in the story. Caroline often talked about how much she missed her family and enjoyed keeping in touch through letters. It was realistic that her family wasn't apart of this novel as they were so far away. Her mother's marriage to Fedrick Holbrook and the birth of their daughter Lottie was mention. By the way this is part is historically correct. 

I think as the next book has Caroline married to Charles there will be some plot holes. He wasn't even mentioned in this novel. We will see when I get around to read the final novel. I do hope libraries keep these books around because I would love to read these to my children. As far as buying them goes they are super expensive since they are out of print. I hope that my children will be able to enjoy this novel. I know I did. I enjoyed going back into the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder especially since we recently saw the play in Walnut Grove so I was in the mood for the pioneer lifestyle.