Waldman’s (The Wisdom Bird, 2000, etc.) account of the massacre at Wounded Knee is accessible to young readers, but troubling in its lack of documentation. His short narrative moves quickly through the background of the Overland Trail and the Indian “treaties,” boarding schools and the Ghost Dance religion, to the events that lead to the historic slaughter. He describes how the settlers and the government quickly decimated the Lakota’s culture (acknowledging, for instance, the systematic slaughter of the buffalo), and portrays the events at Wounded Knee as a massacre, rather than the “battle” it has been called. He makes good use of newspaper headlines and articles to convey the sentiments of the white culture at the time, but he also makes use of dialogue and dramatic setting that is unattributed (“the braves glanced nervously at one another, sensing that a bloody confrontation loomed just ahead”). At the front and end, there’s a present-tense description of the battle from Black Elk’s point of view. Also unattributed, it is a loose paraphrase from Black Elk Speaks (which Waldman does include in his bibliography), including some phrases in direct quotes, but with some curious alterations. For instance, “I painted my face all red . . . It did not take me long to get ready” (from Black Elk Speaks) becomes “He hurriedly painted his face red” (in Waldman’s text). Though Black Elk Speaks indicates “when we were charging, I just held the sacred bow out in front of me with my right hand. The bullets did not hit us at all,” Waldman says, “The riders held their bows high above their heads and charged down from the ridge, directly into the fire of the cavalry.” Combined with his impressionistic paintings, most of which are based on photographs by Edward S. Curtis and contemporaries, Waldman portrays the Lakota sympathetically, but with a romanticized tone that is inaccurate. The bibliography of six adult titles will be only moderately useful to young readers, who will need more resources to flesh out their understanding of Lakota culture and this period of history. However, there is little else available on Wounded Knee, and for careful readers, this might be a useful place to start. (bibliography, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82559-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay.
Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán.
When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words; she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. She can also cook exotic food, dance (anywhere, anytime), plan fun parties, and tell enchanting stories. Eventually, Tía Lola and the children swap English and Spanish ejercicios, but the true lesson is "mutual understanding." Peppered with Spanish words and phrases, Alvarez makes the reader as much a part of the "language" lessons as the characters. This story seamlessly weaves two culturaswhile letting each remain intact, just as Miguel is learning to do with his own life. Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they're being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of la lengua nativa—the mother tongue.
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-80215-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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