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j_hornick's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
mnboyer's review against another edition
1.0
If you want a much longer, detailed discussion about how this book fails to properly depict Indigenous children in literature, please see this blog post between a reviewer and the author:
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2014/03/rosanne-parrys-written-in-stone.html
If you want a shorter reason why this jumps out as problematic, here it goes: This story is authored by a non-Indigenous person who has taken it upon their shoulders to put a "child of color" on the cover of a book. Armed with good intentions, the writing begins and the author really wants to "do things right." However.... if you know anything about American Indians you should know that anytime someone says they are a "Native American princess" people roll their eyes. Read a few pages into this book where the child protagonist is talking about being a "princess" and you realize that even though the author had good intentions, they didn't do enough research--there is no such thing as a Makah princess. The author also suggests children were playing "pirates and Indians" which again.... so problematic! Skips over any relevant discussion of the Makah whale hunt of the 1990s because author decides children wouldn't understand. Ugh.
Short version: Author meant well but author failed to provide pivotal Makah children's fiction. This is, at best, Indigenous children's literature through a very White lens.
Note: I know some of you will wonder, so I'll answer before you have to ask. I have zero problem with non-Indigenous people writing Indigenous characters into their fiction. I don't mind what genre they wish to tackle. I merely ask that they do some research before adding to generalizations and stereotypes that Indigenous people have been combatting since colonization. If you cannot write a female Indigenous character without using "princess" terminology, you have not done the research.
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2014/03/rosanne-parrys-written-in-stone.html
If you want a shorter reason why this jumps out as problematic, here it goes: This story is authored by a non-Indigenous person who has taken it upon their shoulders to put a "child of color" on the cover of a book. Armed with good intentions, the writing begins and the author really wants to "do things right." However.... if you know anything about American Indians you should know that anytime someone says they are a "Native American princess" people roll their eyes. Read a few pages into this book where the child protagonist is talking about being a "princess" and you realize that even though the author had good intentions, they didn't do enough research--there is no such thing as a Makah princess. The author also suggests children were playing "pirates and Indians" which again.... so problematic! Skips over any relevant discussion of the Makah whale hunt of the 1990s because author decides children wouldn't understand. Ugh.
Short version: Author meant well but author failed to provide pivotal Makah children's fiction. This is, at best, Indigenous children's literature through a very White lens.
Note: I know some of you will wonder, so I'll answer before you have to ask. I have zero problem with non-Indigenous people writing Indigenous characters into their fiction. I don't mind what genre they wish to tackle. I merely ask that they do some research before adding to generalizations and stereotypes that Indigenous people have been combatting since colonization. If you cannot write a female Indigenous character without using "princess" terminology, you have not done the research.
crystal_reading's review against another edition
3.0
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to travel to the Olympic Penninsula. I loved seeing it again through Written in Stone. Parry painted a picture of the landscape and I almost felt the fog roll in as I read. It is interesting to see the land, but also the time frame. There aren't that many middle grade books set in the 20s.
More than the setting though, the relationships in the story appealed to me. Pearl has lost both her parents and her sister, but she is surrounding by a caring extended family. Pearl's Aunt Susi works in town and lives on her own. She is a role model and a mentor who stands by Pearl, but also holds her accountable for her actions. Susi brings out the best in Pearl. More than anything else, this is a story of family and the strength that family can inspire.
Roseanne Parry taught on the Quinault Indian reservation. In this text, she has worked hard to respectfully portray the Quinault and Makah people and their history. She explained that she wanted to create a story that would let her students see characters like them. She shared some aspects of the culture, but was careful not to appropriate their stories. She alluded to several characters from stories, but did not explain out of respect. This was a difficult balancing act of utilizing the history to create something new without using the stories of the people because as she wrote in the author's note, "they are not mine to tell." I appreciated that she didn't just make up tales to go along with her narrative but let it stand on its own.
I would recommend Written in Stone. It provides a look into a time, place and culture that many children would not otherwise experience.
Originally published on Reading Through Life http://readingtl.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-written-in-stone.html
More than the setting though, the relationships in the story appealed to me. Pearl has lost both her parents and her sister, but she is surrounding by a caring extended family. Pearl's Aunt Susi works in town and lives on her own. She is a role model and a mentor who stands by Pearl, but also holds her accountable for her actions. Susi brings out the best in Pearl. More than anything else, this is a story of family and the strength that family can inspire.
Roseanne Parry taught on the Quinault Indian reservation. In this text, she has worked hard to respectfully portray the Quinault and Makah people and their history. She explained that she wanted to create a story that would let her students see characters like them. She shared some aspects of the culture, but was careful not to appropriate their stories. She alluded to several characters from stories, but did not explain out of respect. This was a difficult balancing act of utilizing the history to create something new without using the stories of the people because as she wrote in the author's note, "they are not mine to tell." I appreciated that she didn't just make up tales to go along with her narrative but let it stand on its own.
I would recommend Written in Stone. It provides a look into a time, place and culture that many children would not otherwise experience.
Originally published on Reading Through Life http://readingtl.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-written-in-stone.html
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
The Makah have a long tradition of whale hunts to provide for the tribe. But on this hunt, which became their last, Pearl's father died and the whales have disappeared. Having lost her mother and brother in the influenza epidemic five years earlier, Pearl has never felt more alone. Now she must figure out where where she fits both in the changing tribe and the modern world outside it. And how will the tribe survive without the whales that they depended on? This is a timeless tale of finding one's place in society and balancing old traditions with new ideas. Recommended for grades 5-8.
stenaros's review against another edition
4.0
I was a great fan of Island of the Blue Dolphins as a child (though I haven't read it since) and this book left me in the same place. It's a well-crafted tale of a Native American girl living on the Olympic Peninsula in the 1920's. The story is moving and full of details and the author, who is not Native American, seems to have worked hard to respect the Native American culture.
jennybeastie's review against another edition
4.0
Rosanne Parry has gotten a lot of flack for this book, and I think that's unfair. I found it to be a sensitively written, sincere attempt at writing great historical fiction with a native main character. It was a good story that celebrated native life in the pacific Northwest in the 1920s. Well done.
libscote's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked this one, especially the end matter. The amount of respect with which Parry treats the community she is writing about and the topics is astounding. An excellent title.
ellsbeth's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this story and the care that was taken to tell it. The information included after the story to help readers learn more about native culture is appreciated. I find myself looking for ways to include it in my teaching and I look forward to reading more of Rosanne Perry's books.
libscote's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked this one, especially the end matter. The amount of respect with which Parry treats the community she is writing about and the topics is astounding. An excellent title.
satyridae's review
4.0
This story, told from the viewpoint of a young Makah girl, daughter of a whaler/storyteller, is lovely. It takes place after WW1, and is a piece of Native history that I haven't read much about. Everything is in transition, and it's pretty clear which direction things are moving. Parry writes with sensitivity and delicacy, but manages to communicate the grief underlying the events unfolding with clarity and emotional impact. I loved the device of the first and last chapters being in the very-near past, it was a relief to know that some of the old ways were saved.
I'm sometimes impatient with afterwords, wishing that the story could just stand alone, but the afterword here I liked- though I'm not sure it was essential.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
I'm sometimes impatient with afterwords, wishing that the story could just stand alone, but the afterword here I liked- though I'm not sure it was essential.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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