Multicultural Review

For my Multicultural Review, I chose to read five books on Native Americans. As I am a Children’s/Youth Librarian I wanted to write about children’s book. However, for this project I felt that picture books would not bring enough breadth and depth to my subject, so I chose five Native American books that would be appropriate for a middle school library.

The books I chose, Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich are all great books about Native Americans for ages 10-14.

The books cover a wide range of learning in that each book, although about Native Americans, is also about themes that everyone can relate to, Native American or not. The books vary from being set hundreds of years ago, like Morning Girl, to being recent, such as The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian. These books are inclusive, rather than exclusive and all people will be able to relate to the changes the characters go through.




Morning Girl by Michael Dorris

This book begins with Morning Girl describing how she got her name: “I don't tell this to anyone because they might misunderstand, but I like the aloneness of the early morning.... Another thing: if the day starts before you do, you never catch up. You spend all your time running after what you should have already done, and no matter how much you hurry, you never finish the race in a tie. The day wins.”

These are telling sentences in that not only does it let readers know that this story is a first person narrative, but also it is a ponderous story. There is not a lot of drama and suspense in the story. Although a hurricane hits Morning Girl’s island and her mother miscarries, these are told in almost a poetic language.

The chapters alternate with Morning Girl sharing her thoughts and feelings in one chapter, and her brother, Star Boy, sharing his perspective in another. In a way, it is good in that we get to hear from both main characters, but it also disrupts the flow of the story as we are never with each character for very long.

The story is basically about Morning Girl’s relationship with Star Boy and the rest of her family, including extended family. They live on an island in the 1400s, before Christopher Columbus’ time. They live a relatively simple, peaceful life. The story discusses their customs and relationships amongst each other: how they pull together during the hurricane, how they mourn the baby the mother never had, and how their day to day life changes.

The book is the shortest of the five I read for this assignment at only 80 pages –over 100 pages less than any other book I read for this assignment-, and for that reason I thought it would be good for 5th graders. After reading it, however, I changed my mind and think it should be reserved for those older. Younger children may dislike how the story flips back and forth between brother and sister and while the words are few they have more meaning than meets the eye, which may confuse younger children. I enjoyed the book, though!



Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

When I chose my theme of Native American I had to include this book, as I recall reading it when I was in 5th grade. My school even did a play of it! It’s a probably the classic book about Native Americans. I had not read it for a long time, so I picked it up again for this project and loved it just as much as I did in 5th grade.

The book begins with Karan, who tells the story is first person narrative. She relates the history of her village, how otter hunters came and killed many of her tribes’ people. Missionaries soon come and want to take Karana and her tribe to mainland California. 12 year old Karana was excited to go and readily packed her few belongings while keeping an eye on her ever mischievous brother, Ramo.

They board the ship and the reader begins to have hope for Karana’s new life when Ramo jumps off the ship for a treasured belonging he left behind. Karana jumps after him and as she catches up to him they both watch the ship –their hope- leave.

The island is a dangerous place and the very next day Ramo is killed by wild dogs. Karana is alone and will remain alone on the island for the next 18 years. The story is about those 18 years of rough survival. As a woman, Karana is forbidden by her tribe to make weapons, yet she must to survive. The wild dogs that killed her brother are still out there.

The story is about Karana’s determination. She wants to live. But to do so she has to change her behaviors as she’s no longer protected by her tribe. There is no one else she can turn to, so she must do everything –hunting, gathering, building, and weaponry- all by herself.

The first time I read this book I did not realize that it was based on a true story. I think that makes the story more poignant to know that there really was a 12 year old girl left behind when missionaries came to the island off of California in the 1800s. She truly did live there, and survive there, by herself for 18 years. The sense of loneliness she must have felt must have been immense.


The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill

The book is written from the point of view of 10 year old Fredricka, Fred, and it details the year that Miss Agnes came to teach in her remote Alaskan school in the year 1948.

Teachers have come and gone from Fred’s Athabascan school. The Alaskan wilderness –and the ever present fish- seem too much for most traditional teachers to handle. Then enters Miss Agnes from the far away country of England. Her teaching is unorthodox, to say the least. She immediately throws away the old textbooks the students have been using and tells them to make pictures to decorate the schoolhouse with.

Miss Agnes begins reading to the children, puts a huge map of the world on one side of the classroom, writes out a timeline of the history of the world, and makes learning real for these children. She gives them reasons to learn, such as when she explains how by adding and subtracting money the students can know that they aren’t being cheated by people buying fur.

Additionally, she, unlike any of the previous teachers, wants Fred’s deaf older sister to come to class. But how can she learn if she can’t hear? Fred’s mother doesn’t think it is possible… until Miss Agnes teaches not only Bokko, but the entire class sign language. Now for the first time Bokko can communicate with those around her.

With all the new and wonderful changes Fred begins to dread the thought of Miss Agnes leaving, going back to England, at the end of the year. How can Miss Agnes ever be replaced? Or will she decide to stay, after all? To find out, you should read it! Actually, everyone should read it anyway, as it is really well told and a fun read.



The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This was the longest book I read for this assignment at almost 300 pages. However, it should not intimidate most middle-schoolers as the first person narrative from Arnold Spirit, usually known as Junior, is accompanied by many drawings, which truly enhance the words he writes in his diary.

Junior is a 14 year old boy who lives on an Indian Reservation in Spokane, Washington. He is a “part time Indian” because he transfers from his reservation school to a school in Reardan –whose mascot is, ironically, and Indian-, full of rich white students, after his reservation teacher pushes him to want more out of life.

He goes, and is not happy at his new school. He deals with racism, and bullies, a stuttering issue, and other similar trials magnified about by being a Native American in a predominantly white school. He is heart breaking in many ways. His father is an alcoholic and later in the story his grandmother and sister both die.
It’s definitely a tragic-comedy, as many lives are. Junior has a beautiful indomitable spirit and he overcomes many trials. It is a coming of age book and, yes, there are references to sex and also some swearing which probably makes this story better suited to 8th graders, if it was in a middle school library.

Actually it may be too mature for a middle school library, but I wanted to read it for this project as it has won numerous awards and garnered many accolades… for good reason! The chapters are short and the line drawings add interest. This story can easily be read in one or two days despite the number of pages.



The Birchbark House by Louise Eldrich
This is a story about an Ojibwa girl, age 7, named Omakayas. She lives in the year 1847 and unbeknownst to her, she is adopted. Her community had a smallpox epidemic and she, at less than 2 years of age, was the sole survivor. She is rescued by an elderly Ojibwa woman and brought to live with another family.

The story tells readers about Omakayas life, her relationships with Tallow, the woman who found her, her mother, her older sister and her two little brothers. She leads a simple life and the chapters describe common household chores such as readying moose skin for moccasins and chasing crows out of the corn.

Omakayas father is absent for about the first half of the book as he is a hunter and trades fur. He is a stern but loving figure and although Omakayas is a little afraid of him, she loves him. Omakayas has a unique relationship with animals and this is illustrated through the book, such as when she visits her “brother bears” and when she, while chasing crows out of the corn, adopts a wounded crow for a pet.

Omakayas life is not without trouble, however. Towards the middle of the book a smallpox outbreak occurs within her new village. Everyone in her family is sickened, except her. She takes care of the family as best as she can, but her beloved baby brother dies. She doesn’t understand how she did not get sick until the very end of the book when Tallow explains that she, Omakayas, had smallpox when she was a little girl. Here, for the first time, Omakayas learns of her adoption.

The author has a pet crow herself and thus the relationship between the crow and Omayakas is very real. The author tells a very authentic tale. Ojibwa words are used throughout, and there is included a glossary of Ojibwa words and terms. Eldrich studied the culture of the island before she wrote the story and talked with native chiefs to make the characters more authentic.




Dorris, M. (1999). Morning girl. Hyperion Book.

O'Dell, S. (2010). Island of the blue dolphins. Sandpiper; 50th Anv edition.

Hill, K. (2002). The year of miss agnes. Margaret K. McElderry.

Alexie, S. (2007). The absolutely true diary of a part time indian. Little Brown.

Erdrich, L. (2002). The birchbark house. Hyperion Book.