| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that this book explores tensions among white settlers and Native Americans at the time of the Revolution.
As the Revolutionary War begins, best friends Daniel and Coshmoo are being torn apart. Coshmoo is a Delaware Indian boy, part of a tribe striving to remain neutral in the face of fierce pressure to join the British. Daniel is a settler and on the Patriot side. Their belief in dreams and stories is the beginning of their efforts to hold on to friendship and prevent their people from destroying each other in war. Based on the true story of Queen Esther of the Delawares of Tioga Point.
The darkly foreboding, mystical atmosphere is set up by the narrator, Coshmoo, who is dead. His spirit whispers the story on the wind in the branches of an ash tree. His tale is filled with portents and metaphorical visions, and told in the kind of lyrical language that stories of Native Americans tend to inspire.
Pervaded by a sense of urgency and impending disaster, as the age-old cycle of revenge and hatred begins to replay along the Susquehanna River, this compelling novel flows ever faster to its inevitable, tragic conclusion.
Families can talk about the friendship between the two boys. Why are they so close? This can be a good starting point for further reading on the Revolution and the loyalties that united and divided settlers and Native Americans at the time.
| Author: | Sally M. Keehn |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Historical Fiction |
| Publisher: | Penguin Group |
| Publication date: | February 22, 2004 |
| Number of pages: | 218 |
| Hardcover price: | $16.96 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 10 - 14 |
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