Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1994)
In the third in Nixon's Ellis Island series, Kristin Swenson and her parents settle on a Minnesota farm, in a house Mamma fears is haunted by former occupants. Meanwhile (to her parents' distress), the independent-minded 17-year-old absorbs the feminist views of a neighbor's college-educated sister, tangles with the local minister over her modern notions, and strikes up a friendship with another neighbor's son, Johan -- who admires her high spirits and free thinking. The cardboard characters here make a flimsy support for an overabundance of historical issues plus some carefully researched details of a Swedish-American community in 1902, while Nixon -- though ever a fluent narrator -- stretches credibility with the relationship between Kristin and Johan, who seem more like transplants from the present than young people of their own time. Still, a readable novel that makes an accessible introduction to its period setting. 1994, Delacorte, $14.95. © 1994 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Christy Hammer (The ALAN Review, Spring 1995 (Vol. 22, No. 3))
Kristin Swenson and her parents emigrate to a Swedish community in Minnesota, where her father can farm and make a life for his family. Excited about a new life in America, Kristin quickly learns that her parents' ideas are still those of the old country. Intrigued by the suffragist movement, Kristin learns a great deal about herself, her parents, Johan Olsen, and people in the community as she struggles for her own independence. Middle-school students will identify with the characters in Land of Dreams. Set in Minnesota in 1902, the novel approaches topics that are of interest to adolescents today: dating, parental authority, values and beliefs, and roles of men and women. Although the plot of the novel revolves around the culture of the times and of an arranged marriage, Kristin's stance for her own beliefs and her discovery of what it means to care deeply about another person will interest readers today. 1994, Delacorte, 152 pp., $14.95. Ages 12 up.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1994)
With her usual broad brush and lack of subtlety, Nixon tells the third story in her Ellis Island series. Unconventional, daring Kristin Swenson, who has immigrated to a rural Minnesota farm with her parents at the turn of the century, wants to learn English and work for women's suffrage, which outrages her traditional Swedish community. But Kristin -- conveniently -- finds love, a sense of belonging, 'and' freedom in the end. A good read, with much historical information. (Ellis Island series). Category: Fiction. 1994, Delacorte, 153pp.. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.