The Devil's Paintbox

McKernan, Victoria. 2009. The Devil's Paintbox. Random House. 360 pages.

Aiden Lynch slid down the steep creek bank, dirt crumbling beneath his bare feet and dust rising in a cloud behind him.

This is a difficult read. Emotionally that is. Especially if you are allergic to westerns. Aiden and his younger sister, Maddy, are starving to death. As in eating dirt and splitting up small bugs between them starving. If no one intervenes, it's only a matter of time until they both die. Their parents have died. And their neighbors have all scattered. Some have died. Some have moved away. But regardless, these two are isolated from the world. (The setting is Kansas in 1865.)

These two are given a second chance when Jefferson J. Jackson stumbles upon them. If Aiden agrees to work two years in a lumber camp (one year for himself, one year for his sister) then Jackson will let them join his wagon on a wagon train west. But the Oregon Trail holds so many dangers--some expected, some not so much--and their survival is never a guarantee. Every day almost seems to be a life-and-death matter.

The heart of this one turns out (in a way) to be about small pox and the oh-so-controversial vaccinations for small pox. Who deserves the chance to be vaccinated? Who doesn't? Should everyone be vaccinated? Should race and class matter? How much prejudice is involved?

This is a novel that makes you think. About the war. About the effects of the war. About prejudice. About what is right and wrong. About friendships. About life and death too.

It's a bit raw-and-rough on the emotions.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Where The Broken Heart...

Meyer, Carolyn. 1992. Where The Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker.

Where The Broken Heart Still Beats is a historical fiction novel based on the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, a young girl kidnapped by Comanche raiders from a massacre of their fort shared by nine settler families. The story begins over twenty-five years after her capture when she is captured by Texas Rangers on one of their raids against the Comanches and returned to the white community along with her baby daughter. The book is told from two perspectives: Lucy, a young girl--Cynthia Ann's cousin--and Cynthia Ann herself.

Cynthia Ann (aka Sinty-Ann or Naduah) has forgotten her childhood years--blocked the raid and her capture from her memory--and has thoroughly adopted the ways of her People. She has forgotten the English language, and has only one desire, to return to her People and find her husbands and two grown sons. Forced to live with her Uncle and his family, Cynthia Ann refuses at first to budge. She tries to escape several times unsuccessfully, and she refuses to learn and speak English. But after months of living with her 'family' she is assured that if she tries to fit in with her family, learn English, and learn their culture and faith, that he will help her find her People again and allow her to visit with her family. So relunctantly she begins relearning the ways of the white man.

Lucy has great compassion on Cynthia Ann. She sees her pain and heartache and sympathizes with her loss. She seems not to share her family's deep-set hatred of the Indians and their passion or zeal to see every Indian annihilated. Witnessing these outbursts of her brothers and father disgusts her. She becomes Cynthia Ann's only friend and confidante in many ways. She finally breaks through Cynthia Ann's barrier of distrust and she is allowed close enough to learn and share the memories of her past. Cynthia Ann speaks to her of her past--something she refuses to do with other family members. But both know that Cynthia Ann can never be happy unless she's allowed her freedom to be who she is.

The book is not a complete portrait of the Parker family, it focuses on the Civil War years 1860-1865, but it is excellent in capturing an important time period in Texas history.

The Handbook of Texas Online: Cynthia Ann Parker
http://www.readcarolyn.com/

Crooked River

Pearsall, Shelley. 2005. Crooked River.

CROOKED RIVER is the second novel for author Shelley Pearsall, winner of the 2003 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Set in Ohio in 1812, CROOKED RIVER tells the dramatic story of an unjust trial of an Indian--nicknamed Indian John--who was captured and held prisoner by one of the white settlers. "Indian John" is accused of murdering a white fur trapper. The story is told from two perspectives: prose chapters narrated by Rebecca Carver, the 13 year old daughter of the white man who captured the Indian, and a series of poems narrated by the Indian--whose real name is Amik. As his formal trial draws closer--although the men in the settlement have already concluded his guilt--Rebecca becomes more and more convinced that "Indian John" is innocent. One other man, Peter Kelley, a lawyer, also believes in his innocence. Kelley tries his best to win the case and set his friend Amik free, but the judge and jury will not be swayed. The trial is a mockery. Evidence or no evidence, they want this man to be convicted and hung.

CROOKED RIVER is based loosely on the true story of an Indian named John O'Mic who was tried and convicted of murder in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1812. He was held captive in a cabin and shared it with the white man and his family--there was a thirteen year old daughter. Using this true story as a basis and framework, Pearsall fictionalized the account to show how these people might have felt. Her research was thorough and impressive as her author's note indicates. While CROOKED RIVER is based on a true story, fact and fiction in this case have two different endings.

I thought CROOKED RIVER was a wonderful book. Although Pearsall is not of Native American ancestry, I believe her research was so extensive that Amik's voice was authentic. The poems narrated by Amik are beautiful. To learn that some of these phrases were borrowed from authentic Ojibwe sources--poems, stories, songs, etc--was fascinating. It made the book even "more authentic" than I originally thought. The narration of Rebecca Carver was equally researched. Pearsall read primary sources--diaries, books, letters, etc--from the time period to capture authentic language patterns and phrases of the whites as well. One source in particular that Pearsall used was an unpublished diary of a young girl named Emily Nash.

I had hoped to be reviewing another Carolyn Meyer book, Where The Broken Heart Still Beats, but I did not quite get it finished in time. Hopefully, I'll get it finished by tomorrow. Regardless, Crooked River and Where the Broken Heart Still Beats work well together as historical fiction novels examining the interaction of pioneering white settlers and Native Americans. Both share a sympathetic young girl character, Rebecca in Crooked River, and Lucy in Where The Heart Still Beats, that is able to connect and interact in a way that no one else can.

Waiting for A Memory

Bruchac, Joseph. 2006. Geronimo

Geronimo was a legendary figure in American culture, and during the last half of his lifetime, a tourist attraction wherever he went. And while Joseph Bruchac's novel GERONIMO describes this vividly, he also paints a portrait of a real man. Told through the eyes of "Little Foot" or "Willie" this fictional grandchild of Geronimo is responsible for passing on his legacy through the stories he shares.

"Remember That is what I now do. I tell the story as best I can. With each line of my tale I will place a kernel of corn on the ground. Then, when I am done, that corn will be there for you to pick up. Eat it and this story may stay with you as it has stayed with me. Do not fall asleep, or the story may be broken, as were our lives. Listen" (5).

While it doesn't follow strictly chronological guidelines, the main story takes place between 1883 and 1908. The heart of the story is the imprisonment of the Apache Indians--yes, I know there is a more descriptive, more accurate name, and their exile from their land in Arizona. They were deported by train, under guard, to camps and forts in Alabamba and Florida. The train carrying Geronimo became a tourist attraction at every stop along the way, and a money-making venture.

"'They are waiting for a memory,' Wratten said to me as we passed slowly by yet another great crowd of waving, shouting people. 'They want to be able to tell their children they saw Geronimo.'" (78)

The memories they make for themselves in their new homes were anything but pleasant. Full of hard work, sadness, depression, and disease--their camps were prone to malaria--they were often separated from their families...wives from husbands, and children from parents. Many children were sent to a school in Pennsylvania where many became sick with tuberculosis and died.

Woven into the stories of hardships and broken promises, are stories of the past both pleasant and bittersweet. Their days of peace and contentment, and their days of battle fighting the Mexicans and Americans.

Beautifully written, I hope this book finds its audience because it is a truly memorable book.

http://www.josephbruchac.com/
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/B/geronimo/geronixx.htm