This third installment in Whelan’s Island Trilogy portrays 19th-century daily living and the tension between the Native Americans and white settlers. Picking up where Farewell to the Island left off, Mary is running the family farm without her father, now deceased. Two men in Mary’s life strive for her attention. James, who has pursued her from England, still wishes for her hand, while her childhood friend, White Hawk, shows his affection in a more steadfast way. White Hawk divides his time between helping Mary on the farm and assisting his tribe. There is great tension between the Sauk Indian tribe and the American Fur Co., whose proprietors, though they brought commerce to the island of Michilimackinac, use unsavory means to monopolize trapping. As winter takes hold, White Hawk finds he must return to his people; starvation is imminent and he must help them find an alternative to selling their land to white men. It is Mary who conceives of the plan that brings food to the Indians. James eventually finds his true love elsewhere, and Mary and White Hawk wed. Mary opens the first school for girls while White Hawk continues to assist his people. Mary’s romance with White Hawk comes off lukewarm, and the narrative never has much momentum. Still, for Mary’s fans and those wishing to gain a unique insight into this short but devastating time in Native American history, this is a worthwhile read. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028253-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Taking a page from Avi’s The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1990), Kehret (I’m Not Who You Think I Am, p. 223, etc.) pens a similar story of a girl who goes to sea. Determined not to be separated from her seriously ill mother, Emma, 12, embarks on a plan that results in the adventure of a lifetime. Sent to live with Aunt Martha and her arrogant son, Odolf, Emma carefully plots her escape. Disguising herself in her cousin’s used clothes, she sneaks out while the household slumbers and stows away on what she believes to be a ship carrying her parents from England to the warmer climate of France. Instead, the ship is the evil, ill-fated Black Lightning, under the command of the notorious Captain Beacon. Emma finds herself sharing quarters with a crew of filthy, surly, dangerous men. When a fierce storm swamps the ship, Emma desperately seizes her chance to escape, drifting for several days and nights aboard a hatch cover and finally carried to land somewhere on the coast of Africa. Hungry, thirsty, and alone, Emma faces the daunting prospect of slow starvation, but survives due to a relationship she builds with a band of chimpanzees. This page-turning adventure story shows evidence of solid research and experienced plotting—the pacing is breathless. Kehret paints a starkly realistic portrait, complete with sounds and smells of the difficult and unpleasant life aboard ship. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-03416-2
Page Count: 138
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
PLB 0-531-33140-7 Ketcham’s first book is based on an allegedly true story of a childhood incident in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. It starts with a couple of pages regaling the Bach home and all the Johanns in the family, who made their fame through music. After his father’s death, Johann Sebastian goes to live with his brother, Johann Christoph, where he boasts that he is the best organist in the world. Johann Christoph contradicts him: “Old Adam Reincken is the best.” So Johann Sebastian sets out to hear the master himself. In fact, he is humbled to tears, but there is hope that he will be the world’s best organist one day. Johann Sebastian emerges as little more than a brat, Reincken as more of a suggestion than a character. Bush’s illustrations are most transporting when offering details of the landscape, but his protagonist is too impish to give the story much authority. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30140-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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