- Hardcover: 480 pages
- Publisher: Dutton (Jan 17 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0525946241
- ISBN-13: 978-0525946243
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14.5 x 3.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 590 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #776,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A young Native American girl, separated from her tribe in the harsh 14th century, must find her way through life in this engrossing coming-of-age saga marking the adult fiction debut of young adult fiction writer Spinka (Mother's Blessing). The girl, named Picture Maker by her Ganeogaono people because of her drawings that foretell the future, is captured by the enemy Algonquins at age 13. Raped, pregnant and marked for death because she killed her attacker, the brutal Hawk Feather, Picture Maker escapes her captors and wanders for months. She eventually stumbles into a Naskapi village in the far reaches of eastern Canada, where she is taken in and made part of the tribe. Soon, though, the sense that she may still be in danger compels Picture Maker to continue her travels. She allows herself to be sold to the Inuit, who also treat her well. But her spirit is crushed when an Inuit leader, following custom, kills her newborn because the baby girl represents another mouth to feed in time of famine. Picture Maker joins a breakaway group of Inuits who journey across the Labrador Sea to Greenland, where she meets her future husband, Halvard, a Norseman, whose way of life represents yet another cultural shift for the young woman. Spinka's narrative plods at times, weighed down by unnecessary description, and the dialogue is stiffly formal. But as the narrative progresses, it eventually gathers speed and is transformed into an absorbing adventure tale told from an exhaustively researched historical perspective. Spinka, who is working on a sequel, has uncovered native traditions and beliefs in primitive North America and brought them to life through the eyes of her courageous young heroine. Agent, Stephanie Tade. Literary Guild Discovery Selection; BOMC, Doubleday Book Club and QPB featured alternates.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Eleven-year-old Gahrahstah, a girl with a gift for drawing pictures to foretell the future, lives in a peaceful Ganeogaono village in the East Coast area of what would become the United States. When the Algonquin warriors invade the Ganeogaono land, she is captured and spirited north. There she becomes a captive slave known as "Mohawk Girl" (a despised name meaning "man-eater") and is beaten and brutally raped. Eventually, she escapes and travels even farther north, where she finds a temporary home with the Inuit people of Canada. She learns their customs and language, then finds a permanent home with the family of a Greenland hunter. Exhaustive research of the peoples of eastern North America, Canada, and Greenland provides the real heart of this novel. While the plot may seem improbable at times, Spinka compensates by introducing characters and cultures that are absolutely fascinating. Fans of Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series will find a new heroine to treasure in Spinka's first novel for adults (her stories about Native American culture for young adults are largely out of print). Recommended for larger public libraries. Jane Baird, Z.J. Loussac P.L., Anchorage
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lesson for the 21st century,
This review is from: Picture Maker (Paperback)
This book was difficult to put down, right to the end. First there is a seductive story well told - enough in itself. Secondly, the strength of a woman of conviction shows through, even though society then (as it still does today) conspires to put women down, to assume they are inferior. Thirdly, the futility of religious intolerance both within and between religions is highlighted in a way that bears a message for the 21st century. So too does the never-ending hatred of one culture for another that is the source of much bloodshed in modern times. If only world leaders would read Spinka's book and take heed of its lessons.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Queen Of Everything Reviewed By Me,
By A Customer
This review is from: Picture Maker (Paperback)
The Queen Of Everthing was a great book that showed some of the hardships that one has to go through in life. You can get a lot out of this book if you go searching for it. Read and see where your imagination takes you.!.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Unoriginal at best,
By
This review is from: Picture Maker (Paperback)
Honestly, the only reason that I'm even giving this book 2 stars is because I like the author's writing style. Spinka writes in such a way that her descriptions are vivid, but not too "flowery" like Jean Auel's "Earth's Children" series. Her characters are developed and likeable. I'm not sure how factually correct everything was, but I didn't notice anything glaringly incorrect in the story, and I liked the way she Spinka showed the similarities and differences between each tribe's customs and beliefs.What I didn't like was that within the first 100 pages, the plot seemed as though it was ripped right out of Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear". I could understand if it was maybe one thing, but it seemed as though within that first part of the story, Spinka attempted to condence the 400 pages of "Cave Bear" and use it as the basis of the book. It's the story of Picture Maker, a Native American living in the Northeast US in the late 1300's, who is captured by an enemy tribe (rather like Ayla being taken in by the "flatheads"), and from there the similarities continue. I won't give them away if you want to read the story, but if I wanted to read "Cave Bear" again, I'd pull my dog-eared copy off the shelf instead of this.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Americas > Canada > First Nations
- Books > History > Canada > First Nations
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Canadian > Native Literature
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Canadian > Women Writers
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States
- Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Epic
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
