- a boy is left alone on the new homestead to prepare it for the family
- packed with self-survival learning, cross-cultural experiences and more
- convo: tobacco & pipe smoking mentioned
- convo: the Indians’ tradition of spirit finding*
- language: golly x5
Type: chapter book
Ages: 8-12
Author: Elizabeth George Speare
*This particular group had a tradition of teenage boys finding their “manitou” (spirit) before taking their place as a man (and thus allowed to hunt with the men). Each boy has to go through some suffering alone and wait for the manitou to come. You might want to research this belief for the sake of conversation, but know that it was a small part of the book.
Set in the wilderness of Maine, our main character, Matt, is forced to learn many skills, recover from a few trials, and make some very grown-up decisions. I absolutely loved how resourceful he learns to be! Matt forms a strange but strong friendship with an Indian boy near his own age and joins in some of the boy’s family’s traditions. Plus, his empathy for them grows a lot as he finds out some tough parts of their history with “white men.”
Without even looking at other reviews, I imagine some people take offense to how the Indians speak in this book (with broken English). However, it didn’t bother me at all. I myself have spoken like that, I’m quite sure, in attempts at foreign languages and other cultures. It’s just life!
Overall, this is a really great story. Without giving you spoilers, be ready for a mixed bag of emotions at the end, but it ends well. Your boys might especially love this one!