Reviews

Encounter by Jane Yolen

bickie's review

Last page:
"So it was we lost our lands to the strangers from the sky. We gave our souls to their gods. We took their speech into our mouths, forgetting our own. Our sons and daughters became their sons and daughters, no longer true humans, no longer ours..."
Yikes. This not only makes it sound like the Taino "lost" all of this somewhat willingly, because they were so open and didn't listen to a child's warnings, it also sounds like the Taino are no longer here, no longer "true humans"(!!), and that their language is completely lost. I think today's Taino would not agree.

shu_long's review

5.0

This narrative with it's beautifully aligned illustrations hits deep and hard on a gut level. I admire the author and artist's willingness to write for younger readers such difficult matters in such an unflinching yet soft way. The horror of the desecration and destruction that came upon the Taino people is not detailed and yet it is revealed in its emotional grief and loss. As the author says, she had little to go on, because of that destruction, but she endeavored to imagine it as best she could from her resources. So far in my research on the Taino, I didn't find any known historical inaccuracies. Granted, I'm working purely off of the resources available to me on the internet and my public library, but those include academic sources, including by writers native to the Caribbean. I recommend this book, but would suggest additional books like "Atariba & Niguayona: A Story from the Taino People of Puerto Rico" written by Jesus Guerrero Rea and adapted/translated by Harriet Rohmer, to round out a reader's exposure to the Taino culture at a younger grade reading level.

ikoperiko's review

informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

cimorene1558's review

5.0

Beautiful, educational, frightening book about a Taino boy who's present when Columbus arrives in the Americas, and the all-too-truthful feelings and dreams he has about what these mysterious beings will do to his home and his people.

kc_kyla_b's review

5.0

I read this every year for thanksgiving. It’s about Columbus and his men discovering America from the POV of the Native Americans.

shonaningyo's review

4.0

This book was cool, and a little haunting when you think about it.

youarejin's review

3.0

cool perspective on the europeans' arrival to the americas, but author and artist arent indigenous, and is based off loose interpretation of a history that has had its records destroyed. in teaching, it is good to read the author's and illustrator's notes about this before/afterwards to help with contextualization. also, to note the impacts of columbus' arrival - i.e. the decimation of the taimo people, from a population of 300,000 to 500 within 50 years
beautiful writing!

apetruce's review

3.0

The story of Columbus from the perspective of a young Taino Indian. It's great because it presents the other side -- strangers out for your gold who take your land etc. I like how certain objects are described the way someone who had NO idea what they are would describe them....a mirror is a pool that gives a man back his face, for example. What I don't like is that it is both too heavy and depressing -- angry -- regarding the European takeover of the Americans for children but also too simplistic. Still, it being Columbus Day, I'm reading it to 3rd and 4th graders this week.

dearreader's review

5.0

Age appropriate perspective narrative on the encounter between Columbus and his men and the natives. As told from the perspective of a young Native American boy, it opened some great discussion and provided a better rounded understanding of the discovery of America.

lara_lleverino's review

4.0

Excellent historical fiction picture book from the point of view of a Taino indigenous boy upon seeing Columbus and his ships for the first time.