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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Quite good, but don't read this if you feel ill at the thought of animals dying horribly (it's not graphic, but still awful). I know it's weird, but I can read about people dying horribly, but animals...no.
Wolf provides a good balance of poetry and prose as he tells the tale of the Donner Party.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
more books need to be like this one please it was so cool
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would probably give this book 5 stars if it wasn’t so heart breaking. When I say this book was “un-put-downable,” I am not exaggerating. I confess to not knowing much about the Donner party before reading this. I feel like too often, they are reduced to a punch line about cannibalism, and that’s all most of us really know about them. This book put a human face on their suffering and gave voice to the people themselves. It also highlighted their incredible resilience and spirit. As opposed to portraying the event as a horrific freak show, Wolf paints a beautiful portrait of the human drive for survival, familial love, and grit. There were times I had to remind myself to breathe. The book is incredibly well researched, and the author’s note at the end is very explicit about where artistic license was taken and what the actual facts are. It’s not a happy, lighthearted read, but I highly recommend it.
I think this book does an excellent job of bringing to life the Donner Party experience (which I always want to call the "Donner Dinner Party", thanks Nathan Hale). This probably went into the most detail about starvation and cannibalism that I have read for Donner party books (maybe why I mostly stick to middle grade). I think teens would be riveted by it.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes