Special Offers see all
More at Powell'sRecently Viewed clear list
Interviews | May 16, 2013
0 comments
|
 
$7.99
New Trade Paper
Ships in 1 to 3 days
This title in other editionsAleutian Sparrowby Karen Hesse
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In June 1942, seven months after attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy invaded Alaska's Aleutian Islands. For nine thousand years the Aleut people had lived and thrived on these treeless, windswept lands. Within days of the first attack, the entire native population living west of Unimak Island was gathered up and evacuated to relocation centers in the dense forests of Alaska's Southeast.
With resilience, compassion, and humor, the Aleuts responded to the sorrows of upheaval and dislocation. This is the story of Vera, a young Aleut caught up in the turmoil of war. It chronicles her struggles to survive and to keep community and heritage intact despite harsh conditions in an alien environment. Review:"Hesse once again uses free verse to explore a historical period, but while the poetry of her Out of the Dust and Witness built a broad picture of events through the layering of a fully formed cast, here character development is sacrificed in favor of atmospheric details. Narrator Vera goes home to Kashega on the Aleutian Islands ('a necklace of jewels around the throat of the Bering Sea,' as an elder describes them) for the summer of 1942, never dreaming that the older couple she looks after in Unalaska Village (also on the islands) would be bombed by the Japanese. The U.S. government then rounds up the Aleutians and transports them 'safely out of the way' of the war, to relocation camps on Ward Lake, eight miles from Ketchikan, Alaska. There, surrounded by alien trees where 'we find not a single leaf we recognize,' Vera watches many die of disease (including her best friend, Pari), is abandoned by her mother, who moves to Ketchikan without her, and realizes she is in love with her childhood friend Alfred. The poetic images will linger in the minds of readers. Yet because the audience learns so little of Vera's interior life, her plight lacks impact, and her homecoming falls short of triumphant. Ages 10-14." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Synopsis:The Newbery Medalist ("Out of the Dust") tells the searing story of a young Aleut girl who, with the residents of her village, is forced to leave her home and enter an internment camp after the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands during World War II.
About the AuthorNewbery winner Karen Hesse re-creates Cook's momentous voyage through the eyes of this remarkable boy, creating a fictional journal filled with fierce hurricanes, warring natives, and disease, as Nick discovers new lands, incredible creatures, and lifelong friends.
What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might likeRelated Subjects
Children's » General
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
Follow us on...
|
|||||||||||||
