Royal Diaries: Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, Massachusetts-Rhode Island, 1653 [Hardcover]

 

 

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Weetamoo lives during a time when many of the Native Americans' lives are constantly spinning with new, often unwelcome activities all around them---the white settlers from Europe have moved into the Massachusetts area territory, where Weetamoo's people, the Pocassets, live in harmony. Worse yet, Weetamoo is daughter of the Pocassets' chief, Corbitant, and will one day soon also become the Pocassets' chief, as Corbitant unfortunately has no sons.

Weetamoo works hard to fill Corbitant's, as well as her people's, expectations for her. She tries as hard as possible to pray every night to the Pocasset goddess Squant, tries to be nice to her pesky little sister Wootonekanuske, tries to help her loving mother around in the wetu, tries to be reverent during spiritual dances, and when she hunts, tries to thank the animal spirit for offering their own creature to her. But these duties Weetamoo must face are made even more difficult as she struggles to deal with the white European settlers moving into the Pocassets' own lands. Weetamoo must quickly grow more mature if she is to live during the dangerous times when her people are on the brink of war with the white settlers.

Patricia Clark Smith, an author who is actually of true Native American---Algonquin, to be precise---descent herself. It is obvious that writing a "diary" of Weetamoo was immensely difficult, for barely anything is known of the real Weetamoo, and the Native Americans kept no written history, so Weetamoo would not realistically have a diary. Though this is not my favorite book in the Royal Diaries series, it is still excellent, as good as anyone could ask for after the long delays and almost-cancellation of the book a few years back before it was released.

Highly recommended!

After a tremendous wait, I have finally been able to read, Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets and it didn't disappoint me at all. Like the title suggests, this book centers around 14-year-old Weetamoo, oldest child and successor of sachem Corbitant. The book describes one year in her life and was depicted through many Native American legends. I especially enjoyed the story of Squant, a beautiful squared eyed young women Weetamoo prays to for patience and who appears to Weetamoo in a spiritual ritual fast. The book also describes Weetamoo's interactions and feelings toward the "Coat-Men", the English of the Plymouth Colony. As the story passes, Weetamoo has many life changing experiences such as her ritual fast in which she see clues to her future, and she finds her love whom she believes will be her husband one day.

I really did enjoy this book, though it was not one of my favorites of the Royal Diaries. It is nice to know that there are more Native American women other than Pocohantas or Scajawea who stood up for their beliefs. Though in the end Weetamoo and her people did not triumph, their culture is very much alive in the US today, and I really recommend people to read this book to develop an understanding of them.

Finally! After all of the Royal Diaries fans across the nation anxiously waited for the publication of Weetamoo for over two years it's finally here!
This diary covers the teenage years of Weetamoo, the oldest daughter of the sachem of the Pocasset Native Americans, Corbitant, but basically it focuses on the turbulent changes that Weetamoo goes through that will affect her deply when she inherits the role of sachem over the Pocassets. This diary was special in this appraised series. As the author frequently composes, Weetamoo did not write. The Pocassets put their stories down in wampum belts or birchbark pictures. But mostly they handed down their stories orally. In this case, we dive into Weetamoo's thoughts because her imposing father quietly asks his daughter to find some peace and quiet time during her days and reflect with herself, as she is rowdy and wild, and she must learn to contain herself in order to become a true Pocasset sachem. Through almost 150 pages of Weetamoo's thoughts and little birchbark pictures that she composes to keep a memory of her thoughts (and struggles to hide them) we see Weetamoo's daily life. This is what is also special about this diary. Most of the other diaries describe lessons and balls and diplomacy. However, this diary showed the spirit of an average kid. Weetamoo played with her friends, she talked about boys and other things a teenage girl would talk about with her best friend Cedar, who is also destined to become a sachem, and she of course has to do household chores with her mother and her younger sister, Wootenasuke. There are a few funny moments throughout the diary, and Weetamoo's style and voice is much like that of kids today. Memorable moments scatter this book, from the delightful ones such as Weetamoo following her father and his entourage to Plymouth through the poison ivy and sumac and her meeting with her future second husband, Wamsutta, in the woods to the eerie, prophetic, and practically haunting dreams that Weetamoo and Cedar have when they undergo their vision quests. Dreams of villages burning, rivers soaked in native blood and bodies, visions of Weetamoo as an older woman without her husband (prophesizing his death), and Cedar and Weetamoo's eventual departure from their friendship.
All in all, this book was a wonderful read, a great contribution to the series, and just as good as I had hoped for after my anxious 2 year wait. To the side, a reason I liked it all the more is because normally we read about Native Americans who helped the English, like Pocahontas and Sacajawea (just as the author puts in her note). But now we have the chance to enter the world of not only a Native American that many have not heard of and is fresh to our minds, but also one that stood up to the English.
The epilogue, historical note, and appendices are packed with information ranging from Weetamoo's tragic death along with her other childhood friends to Pocasset customs to the hostility between Plymouth colonists and their friends, the natives of Metacom (King Philip). The only thing I was disappointed with was there was no explanation as of why this book took so long to come out. Other than that, I loved this book and it is one of my favorites, not only because it was a very fun read and packed with information but also because it is one of the only books in the series that kids can truly connect with and relate to. I highly recommend.

Also, a little overview of upcoming Royal Diaries, all found from my own investigation:

Lady of Palenque by Anna Kirwan, due out in March, 2004
Kazunomiya by Kathryn Lasky, due out in May, 2004
Maria Theresa by ----, due out in August, 2004
Catherine the Great by Kristiana Gregory, due out in Fall, 2004

Visit my Royal Diaries site (http://royaldiaries.freeservers.com)

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5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent addition to the Royal Diaries series.
Fourteen-year-old Weetamoo is the oldest daughter of Corbitant, sachem to the Pocasset band of the Wampanoag Nation. Read more

Published on Sep 5 2003 by Rebecca Herman

4.0 out of 5 stars great book
This is a great book it took me a week to find a copy but I found one. I wait eagrly for the revised edition to come out.

Published on Feb 17 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Info for Royal Diaries Fans
I just recently found out about this book. I want it because I love these books and am collecting everyone that comes out. Read more

Published on Jan 10 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't worry-It's too be published in October!
To everyone that cannot find a copy of this book or wnats to find a copy of it--don't worry. Weetamoo was published in June of 2001 but was very rare to find and less than a month... Read more

Published on Jan 6 2003 by royaldiaryfan2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Weetamoo
I liked this book a lot. Th only reason I gave this book 4 stars was because it was nearly ALL fiction. The real Weetamoo couldn't read or write. Read more

Published on Sep 11 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars I Thought this Book was Never Published!
Even though this book is said to have never been published, I finally found a copy of it.This is the story of the young Indian girl named Weetamoo. Read more

Published on July 4 2002 by royaldiaryfan2000

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