AR: 4.0

King is a dog and a detective just like his owner, Kayla.

After immigrating from Sweden to join relatives in an American prairie community, Kirsten endures the ordeal of a strange school through a secret friendship with an Indian girl.

The second book in the Kirsten series, "Kirsten Learns a Lesson" is wonderful. Kirsten goes to school and is upset and unnerved by it because she doesn't know the language, and especially because they must memorize lines to recite in front of the whole class. She also makes friends with a Native American girl, called Singing Bird. They communicate through pictures and little gifts and begin to learn English words. When Singing Bird asks Kirsten to go with her tribe, as they move to better hunting grounds since they no longer can feed themselves, Kirsten is torn between leaving her family and going with Singing Bird's gentle tribe or staying and having to endure school.

The book shows how schools were run back then, many different grades at once, memorization as one of the primary methods of learning. It also shows, without much preaching, how the native population was displaced by, in this case, the change in the ecosystem caused by settlers use of the land. ( )

I love how this one continues to expand on the the theme of the challenges an immigrating family faces. Specifically the challenge of learning English and how intimidating it can be. For young readers, who only know their own experiences, this is going to teach real empathy. Hell, for an adult it does that. There's also some very interesting commentary the pioneers relationships with indigenous peoples and how their farming affected their food supply. ( )