From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-A heartbreaking but exciting story. In a Quebec village during the French and Indian War, 14-year-old Saxso, an Abenaki, is caught in a struggle of survival and rescue when his mother and sisters are kidnapped during a massacre raid by the English Rangers. Bruchac has based this historical novel on an event that took place in the fall of 1759 when Major Robert Rogers of the English forces led a group of 200 men in an attack on St. Francis. For the Abenaki, the struggle to survive, rebuild, and continue throughout the generations was nearly lost. Through Saxso's own words, Bruchac leads readers through the boy's pursuit to save his family. He is also depicted as religious, with beliefs that are a mixture of Abenaki and Christian teachings. An excellent complement to Native American or French and Indian War units with high discussion potential.
Rita Soltan, formerly at Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MICopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient de la
Hardcover
édition.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-10. Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this. Like Michael Dorris'
Morning Girl (1993) and Louise Erdrich's
The Birchbark House (1999), Bruchac takes an event we thought we knew about--the French and Indian Wars--and presents it from an entirely different standpoint. In October 1759, Major Robert Rogers--of the famed Rogers Rangers--led his British soldiers and a Stockbridge Indian party on a raid against the Abenaki village of St. Francis, whose inhabitants were Abenaki Catholics and their French allies. This gripping story is told by Saxso, a 14-year-old who sees his home destroyed and his mother and sisters carried off into captivity. Saxso tracks them and rescues them. There is passion here both external and internal. As Saxso tries to find his family, he also seamlessly maintains both his Catholic faith and belief in Klist, son of the Great Spirit. His knowledge of his spirit kin in the forests and waters and what they can teach also strengthens him. The narrative itself is thrilling, its spiritual aspects enlightening. An author's note shows how much of Saxso's story is grounded in Abenaki narrative and in the history of Bruchac's own family.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--Ce texte provient de la
Hardcover
édition.
