Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Zia by Scott O'Dell

1 review

michaelion's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I think my opinion of this book is a little swayed by the actual story of the woman renamed Juana Maria, and the appropriation of her and other Native stories by white authors, and on top of that being a Californian who's ancestors are not indigenous to this (Californian) land. This book and the previous are very sweet, and even more so somber. In my non-Native opinion the subject matter was handled decently, but only in the sense that the author didn't do a full "There's two sides to every story!" as some of the depictions in this book about the Natives, the missions, and the Anglo settlers were a little more accurate than a white author would typically write. (
Sidenote: why were the missionary gringos and the Anglo gringos calling each other gringos as if they weren't milked from the same European cow? 😭
) 

Honestly the main reason I read these books was because I didn't have the typical elementary upbringing as most California kids, so I was curious. This book shocked me for how direct it was explaining some of California's history. For many kids I'm sure this is the most they'll ever learn about post-Mexico pre-statehood, but even still it shocked me that this is in some kid's curriculum.

I don't have any more notes. Very good kids book. Pretty good book overall.
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