Taking place about forty-years after the Ingalls family settled in the Dakota territories, The Jumping Off Place by Marion Hurd McNeely (published 1929) tells a similar yet fictional pioneer tale. In this Newbery Medal runner-up for 1930, four orphaned children travel to the claim in the Dakota prairie that their dear Uncle Jim has set up for them. They must homestead in the new pioneering community just springing up in the unforgiving land. If they can remain for the full year and fight off the claim jumpers, they can use the revenue from selling the homestead to “jump off” into the rest of their lives.
With careful instructions that Uncle Jim prepared before a stroke left him dying, teenaged siblings Dick and Becky leave the comfort of their midwest home to begin an adventure with their two younger siblings into an unfamiliar land. They must survive on the land for a year before the land is officially theirs, and unfortunately they run into problems right away. Dick and Becky must face the difficult work of growing food during a harsh summer draught on the Prairie, and they must deal with the cruel claim jumpers who intend to contest the claim next year. In fact, the violent man and children who are jumping on the claim even threaten the youngest boy’s life in a prank.
Fortunately, the pleasant and resourceful children are able to prove their worth to the community, and (spoiler!) all turns out okay as the community rallies around the young family. Becky’s skills prevail as she becomes the beloved school teacher (another reminder to me of Laura’s stories!). After a difficult winter, the children feel like they are ready to “jump off” into life, but now the plans include remaining where they are, for they too love the lovely prairie land, just as Uncle Jim had.
While Laura Ingalls Wilder’s stories took place in the 1880s and Dick and Becky’s story is set in the 1910s or 1920s, their pioneer struggles are remarkably similar. With the exception of food in cans and the occasional appearance of automobiles in the community and thus a greater ability to travel to town, the children live much the same. They still burning coal in a small stove for food. They still ride horses between farms to meet other people. The community families are all impoverished and they must work together. And love and community prevails over all the difficulties they face.
In some respects The Jumping-Off Place is nothing special after having read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s nicely crafted series of pioneer stories. That is better plotted, less sentimental, and better written in general. The Jumping-Off Place holds its own, though. It was published a decade before Laura’s first book was, and it does everything a pioneer story should do in drawing in the young reader. Any child who likes Laura’s tales will like The Jumping-Off Place too.
The Jumping-Off Place was a Newbery award “runner-up” in 1930. It’s “REALLY GOOD” and I say “KEEP IT AND READ IT.”
Newbery rating scale: FANTASTIC | REALLY GOOD | PRETTY GOOD | OKAY | BLAH
What to do with this Newbery: KEEP IT AND READ IT | MAYBE IF YOU HAVE TIME | DON’T BOTHER
