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snowblu3's review
1.0
Listening to Jim Dale as the voice of an indigenous American boy is so cringey. I can't get through this one.
kararkoehn's review
4.0
A wonderful story of Indians and settlers. The strength of friendship and the cruelty of injustice. Told from an Indian’s perspective.
alice_digest's review
1.0
I read this book for shadowing the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal.
I guess part of the point of shadowing the Carnegie is to read books that I would never normally pick up. The downside to that is that while some might be amazing gem I'd never have discovered otherwise, some might just not be the book for me.. This is one of those books.
Ghost Hawk tells the story of a young Native American boy, Little Hawk, as he completes his journey into manhood and returns to find his village changed forever by the arrival of the white men. The second part of the story following life of the white boy, John, who Little Hawk met as a boy and the effect that experience had the path of John's life.
I rarely like novels with historical settings. I usually end up feeling like I'd rather read some non-fiction history books on the subject. This is definitely one of those cases. I personally didn't feel like there was anything new being offered to me by this book. The first half was mainly focuses on Little Hawk's question for his Manitou, which involved a lot of hunting and I found very repetitive. I hoped it might get more interesting in the second half.. but it still never really picked up for me. The tag line "Memory, Murder, Mystery" made it sound a lot more interesting than it was.. and I'm not sure what the "mystery" part was?
The story never really went anywhere new, there weren't any surprises and I was left with a new perspective on the issues to dwell on. I already thought what happened to the Native America's was a horribly unfair tragedy, and that the original white settles held some pretty twisted "Christian" values. The fact took the voyage the new land to escape religious persecution is pretty ironic (an irony not lost on John). It just didn't feel like anything original was presented to me. I wasn't invested in the story at all, and I just found it boring if I'm honest!
When it comes down to it this is not the type of the book that appeals to me, but I can imagine other people enjoying it. It is more suited to younger children, 11-12 year olds. There are lots of interesting ideas for them to grasp and issues to think about. I'll be interested to see what some of my students make of this one. As an adult though, there wasn't anything for me.
Of the three Carnegie books I've read so far, this is the bottom of the list!
I guess part of the point of shadowing the Carnegie is to read books that I would never normally pick up. The downside to that is that while some might be amazing gem I'd never have discovered otherwise, some might just not be the book for me.. This is one of those books.
Ghost Hawk tells the story of a young Native American boy, Little Hawk, as he completes his journey into manhood and returns to find his village changed forever by the arrival of the white men. The second part of the story following life of the white boy, John, who Little Hawk met as a boy and the effect that experience had the path of John's life.
I rarely like novels with historical settings. I usually end up feeling like I'd rather read some non-fiction history books on the subject. This is definitely one of those cases. I personally didn't feel like there was anything new being offered to me by this book. The first half was mainly focuses on Little Hawk's question for his Manitou, which involved a lot of hunting and I found very repetitive. I hoped it might get more interesting in the second half.. but it still never really picked up for me. The tag line "Memory, Murder, Mystery" made it sound a lot more interesting than it was.. and I'm not sure what the "mystery" part was?
The story never really went anywhere new, there weren't any surprises and I was left with a new perspective on the issues to dwell on. I already thought what happened to the Native America's was a horribly unfair tragedy, and that the original white settles held some pretty twisted "Christian" values. The fact took the voyage the new land to escape religious persecution is pretty ironic (an irony not lost on John). It just didn't feel like anything original was presented to me. I wasn't invested in the story at all, and I just found it boring if I'm honest!
When it comes down to it this is not the type of the book that appeals to me, but I can imagine other people enjoying it. It is more suited to younger children, 11-12 year olds. There are lots of interesting ideas for them to grasp and issues to think about. I'll be interested to see what some of my students make of this one. As an adult though, there wasn't anything for me.
Of the three Carnegie books I've read so far, this is the bottom of the list!
dogtrax's review
4.0
I read this as read aloud to my son and he came away with a much deeper nuanced story of the Puritans and the American Indians. This book has a lot of parts, some of it very serious indeed, and it sparked a lot of discussions.
olliewheaton's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pagesofpins's review
1.0
I was unimpressed with this audiobook, as the characters are mostly flat, the story slow and halting, and the premise underutilized (the concept of a ghost young adult Indian protagonist watching history unfold could have been really interesting; it wasn't). Nonetheless, it seemed to have been deeply researched and entrenched with historical fact, so I wondered about the response of Native Americans to this book. After reading some, it seems that the basic historical facts are correct, but the book inadvertently plays to stereotypes on every level. I sense that Susan Cooper's efforts were honest and sincere, but I don't recommend this one.
elixzyy_'s review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Death, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Blood
msseviereads's review
4.0
I've read the complaints that this is slow... it is. I still really enjoyed the story. I've been looking for some great Native American stories to include in my middle school classroom. This is not the right book for my students, but it will be in my library.
greenldydragon's review
3.0
This book was an interesting mix of historical viewpoints. It starts with Little Hawk and is almost a survival tale with his description of the ritual of his tribe where boys were required to survive the winter on their own as the way to become a man. The culture described in the first part is fascinating for readers, but about halfway through the book, the main character shifts to John, an English boy who is connected to Little Hawk's ghost. John's life and observations help show the differences between the New England colonies and their different relations with the Native American tribes.
While I love this time period in history, the shift halfway from Little Hawk to John was disorienting and disappointing. I found Little Hawk's story to be more interesting than John's and I missed the community that Little Hawk had introduced while telling his life story. This shift also made it harder to find a single plot theme to grasp onto. There is no overarching mystery or conflict except for those apparent in the lives of the two main characters and at one point I was tempted to stop reading because I could tell where John's story was going.
This was still a good read, especially as an introduction to the early colonial time period.
While I love this time period in history, the shift halfway from Little Hawk to John was disorienting and disappointing. I found Little Hawk's story to be more interesting than John's and I missed the community that Little Hawk had introduced while telling his life story. This shift also made it harder to find a single plot theme to grasp onto. There is no overarching mystery or conflict except for those apparent in the lives of the two main characters and at one point I was tempted to stop reading because I could tell where John's story was going.
This was still a good read, especially as an introduction to the early colonial time period.
froggylibrarian1's review
3.0
This is going to be a tough review to write because I have differing views on the book. This book was actually recommended to me and then I received it from the publisher for consideration for the Maine Student Book Award. I was excited and intrigued about the book.
The book is about Little Hawk and John Wakeley who officially meet 2 times. Little Hawk is a member of the Pokanoket tribe and in the beginning of the book he is going through his proving time. When he returns home he finds his village has been ravished by a disease brought by the white men who have been arriving in the area. We continue to follow Little Hawk as he meets John Wakely the first time with his father, another man, and Squanto as they watch the Pokanoket's fish. It is many years later, and amid rising tensions between the Native Americans and Englishmen that John and Little Hawk meet again. There has been an accident and Little Hawk is trying to help rescue John's father who is under a tree. Two other Englishmen misinterpret what they see and shoot Little Hawk. Little Hawk dies and the end of part 1. The rest of the story follows John as he struggles with the growing tensions. He actually is able to see Little Hawk as a ghost and is able to learn the Pokanoket language from him. Eventually John moves to Rhode Island which is more tolerant of differing religious views and the treatment of the Native Americans.
Here's the tough part. I did like the book. Susan Cooper is a good writer. The storyline was unique with the ghost of Little Hawk conversing with John. When I finished it early this morning I wondered though what does Debbie Reese think? Debbie Reese has a blog at http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com
and evaluates the portrayal of American Indians in Children's Literature. She was not impressed with the book. Her review can be found here http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2013/06/susan-cooper-on-ghost-hawk-only-major.html
So what to do? I know that I can get offended when stereotypes are made of some of the groups I associate myself with. I can't even imagine how American Indians feel when they are yet again portrayed incorrectly. I feel I need to respect their feelings.
What is the solution to this dilemma? I guess I would encourage authors who decide to write about any group...who want to portray them accurately and not stereotypically to have as part of their research process a consultant from that group.