Reviews tagging 'Death'

Donner Dinner Party: A Pioneer Tale by Nathan Hale

7 reviews

lindseythelibrarian's review

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adventurous dark funny sad fast-paced

3.5

This is my first book in the series!

This is definitely a book for younger kids, even though it deals with some intense topics! With that being said, it’s childish but deals with topics, like death and cannibalism in an accessible way, having jokes jokes, and banter between the individual who is telling the story, and the two who are listening. 

Even for a kids book, I found myself really engaged with what was happening. I was mad about the choices. That mean we’re making to endanger their families. Let’s smash the patriarchy!

One thing that I think would’ve made this book a little bit better, even though it was kind of out of scope, would’ve been a slightly more accurate and well rounded portrayal of the Native American tribes. In this book, it talks about how the native Americans did not respect the treaty but, I think it would’ve been more fair to highlight that they were taken of. 


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katrinareadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative fast-paced

4.0


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ninahuynh's review against another edition

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dark informative sad fast-paced

5.0

Cannibalism. The Donner Party is one of the infamous stories of such dire situation where survival and morals intersect. The third book in Nathan Hale's Hazard Tales  series, this graphic novel's emotive illustrations really bring the reader into the story. Anger. Hope. Sadness. Hopelessness. Cold. Short cuts can be the death of you. 

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brookey8888's review

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adventurous dark funny informative relaxing fast-paced

3.5

Once again I knew nothing about this event in history before picking this up, but I’m glad because I really learned a lot and it was interesting. This has some darker topics like cannibalism so be aware. I’m just glad these graphic novels exist because it’s such a fun way to learn about history. 

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erine's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative fast-paced

4.25

Once upon a time (in Middle School) I had a friend who frequently commented on my literally delectable calves. They remarked on the balance between fat and muscle that apparently offered a potentially tender meal. So I have long since come to terms with the idea that humans are also made of meat, although it remains a very gristle-y topic for polite conversation. In entertainment, cannibalism gets frequent over the top, gallows-humor treatment, and I am reminded of the latest season of Miracle Workers (Oregon Trail). But as horrifying and ludicrous as cannibalism might be in popular culture, the core question remains: how desperate would you need to be to eat a companion? Are there any circumstances when survival would dictate that meal? 

Donner Dinner Party attempts to answer this question, in the context of the extremely harrowing journey of the wagon train trip taken by the Donner family and many others. The circumstances of their travel are painted in stark terms, illustrating the rash foolishness of some of the party, some unfortunate bad luck, and the grim determination of many of the travelers. As with many of the books in this series, there is humor, there are facts, there is mythbusting, and in the end I find myself still keenly fascinated by history. 

There is a frankness to this story that is not hidden, but there are several instances where our narrator warns the reader that they may want to skip ahead. For those who wish to know the story but avoid the cannibalism, it is possible to so. But there is no avoiding the topic of death in general and there are also a few instances of animal consumption that may be distressing (a sentiment that is echoed by the Hangman). 

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ekmoore11's review

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adventurous dark funny informative medium-paced

5.0


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onarosebeam's review

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challenging dark emotional funny medium-paced

4.5


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