Ghost Hawk

by Susan Cooper Narrated by Jim Dale

Overview

From Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper, a story of adventure and friendship between a young Native American and a colonial New England settler.

On the winter day Little Hawk is sent into the woods alone, he can take only a bow and arrows, his handcrafted tomahawk, and the amazing metal knife his father traded for with the new white settlers. If Little Hawk survives three moons by himself, he will be a man.

John Wakely is only 10 when his father dies, but he has already experienced the warmth and friendship of the nearby tribes. Yet his fellow colonists aren't as accepting of the native people. When he is apprenticed to a barrel-maker, John sees how quickly the relationships between settlers and natives are deteriorating. His friendship with Little Hawk will put both boys in grave danger.

The intertwining stories of Little Hawk and John Wakely are a fascinating tale of friendship and an eye-opening look at the history of our nation. Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper also includes a timeline and an author's note that discusses the historical context of this important and moving novel.

A Simon & Schuster audio production.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Audio

10/28/2013
In early colonial Massachusetts, Native America Little Hawk and colonist John Wakeley come from different worlds. But a brief encounter turns into a long kinship that eventually moves beyond the confines of the living world. When colonists kill Little Hawk, Wakeley finds himself still connected to his friend’s soul, which guides him to a life of peace and the principles of Roger Williams. Narrator Jim Dale turns in a winning performance, his voice capturing the tone and attitude of a person recalling the events of past. Dale provides a strong vocal contrast between Little Hawk and Wakeley, while also establishing distinct voices for the book’s other characters. Ages 10-14. A Margaret K. McElderry hardcover. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

In this well-researched and elegant historical fantasy, a Wampanoag boy named Little Hawk survives the loss of his village to a plague contracted from the Pilgrims, who have recently founded Plymouth. Later he befriends a white boy, John Wakeley, only to have a shocking act of violence irrevocably alter their lives. As the years pass, John grows to manhood, learns a trade, marries, and avoids the Pilgrims’ bigotry, drawn to the more tolerant principles of Roger Williams, founder of the colony of Providence. Despite its occasional violence, much of veteran fantasist Cooper’s story is understated, devoted to what is essentially philosophical discussion and a vivid depiction of the Massachusetts wilderness. Although the tale unfolds almost entirely in English, Cooper impressively conveys the barriers, both cultural and linguistic, that divided natives and settlers, sometimes with horrifying results. Both Little Hawk and John maintain their essential decency in the face of the world’s injustice, while Cooper demonstrates, as Little Hawk says, “Change is made by the voice of one person at a time.” Ages 10–14. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, East West Literary Agency. (Aug.)

starred review Booklist

* "Cooper has written a richly plotted, lyrical, and near-epic novel...this is simply an unforgettable reading experience."

Karen Cushman

"Ghost Hawk is a treasure.... Beautifully written, vivid with its manifest love for the land, it is a story of suffering and survival, both tragic and heroic."

BCCB

"Rich period detail makes for an immersive experience."

Philip Pullman

Ghost Hawk is the work of a writer with great imaginative power and long-practiced narrative skill. I was swept up in the story, shocked, moved, and enthralled - and completely convinced by the historical background. I haven't read anything better for a long time."

William Alexander

"Susan Cooper has asked the ghosts of our shared history to sing. And when she asks, they always do."

The Horn Book

"Cooper here demonstrates that there’s plenty of magic left in her pen, delivering a powerful and memorable novel."

School Library Journal - Audio

12/01/2013
Gr 4–8—Cooper's historical fantasy (Margaret K. McElderry Bks., 2013) about a Wampanoag boy and the son of a Pilgrim tells a story of Europeans settling in America during the early 17th century. The tale centers on the lives of two friends, Little Hawk and John Wakeley, both about 11 years old when they meet. Focusing first on Little Hawk's journey into the wilderness where he must survive a three-month rite of passage to become a man, Cooper illuminates the character. When Little Hawk is murdered by white settlers after he pulls out his tomahawk to assist John's injured father, John is unable to resolve the unfairness of what he witnesses in relation to the teachings and professed moral authority of his elders. Little Hawk becomes a ghost to whom John is linked for the rest of his life. From him, John learns about the native people's language, politics, and culture. The bigotry and injustice John witnesses and experiences are described along with details of his life in the Massachusetts territory. While most of the plot takes place during John's lifetime, Cooper successfully brings it to the present day. Jim Dale's exceptional narration, measured pacing, ability to render multiple characters, and emotional intensity fully immerses listeners in the story. At the end, there is a timeline of facts and references related to the experiences of Native Americans also narrated by Dale.—Janet Thompson, West Belmont Branch Library. NJ

OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile

Jim Dale’s deep tones recount the tale of Little Hawk, a young warrior of the Pokanoket tribe, and John Wakeley, a young colonist from Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the mid-1600s. Little Hawk and John meet in the wilderness, introduced by Squanto, a native interpreter. Not long afterward, Little Hawk is accidentally killed by a white colonist, yet he remains in the area as a ghost who teaches John the words and ways of the natives. With broad accents and dramatic phrasing, Dale performs this story of growing up in early America. Cooper’s words and Dale’s performance provide a dramatic backdrop for learning about religious tolerance, hardship, and survival in New England. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

A white boy and a Native American youth form an enduring bond in this historical fantasy set in 17th-century Massachusetts. Eleven-year-old Little Hawk survives the Pokanoket tribe's "proving time" alone in the winter woods for three months only to discover his village devastated by a plague transmitted by encroaching white settlers. Later, Little Hawk's killed by a paranoid white settler while trying to help the injured father of a white boy named John Wakeley. Upset by the injustice of Little Hawk's murder, John's sent by his stern Puritan stepfather on a seven-year apprenticeship north of Plymouth. Here, John encounters Little Hawk's ghost, who becomes his confidant and friend. Gradually, John becomes an outspoken advocate for native people, challenging the bigoted, intolerant Puritans and eventually joining separatist Roger Williams in Providence Plantation. Narrator Little Hawk describes his brief life as a Pokanoket youth and continues as ghost observer with the story of John Wakeley and the increasing unrest between settlers and local tribes. Cooper's thorough historical research provides authentic period detail, contrasting the attitudes and lifestyles of settlers and native people. This sensitive portrayal of an unusual friendship poignantly reveals how greed and intolerance led to Native American displacement in colonial Massachusetts. (map, timeline, author's note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171002893
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	08/27/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

Ghost Hawk


He had left his canoe in the river, tied to a branch of a low-growing cherry tree. Now there was green marshland ahead of him, all round the river’s last slow curve. He pushed his way through waist-high grass toward one of the three high places in the marshland, where trees grew. They were islands of trees, never visited; the duck hunters went only to the marsh. He had chosen this place months ago, and now was the day to come back.

In a squawking flurry two ducks erupted ahead of him, flying low, but his bow stayed on his back; he would not hunt till later, on the way home. He reached the trees—a tangle of pin oak and cherry, sumac and hickory, juniper and birch—and threaded his way through the grabbing branches to the two rocks that marked the tree he had chosen. There it still was, beside the rocks, still the proper shape: the small bitternut hickory tree with its twin leading stems growing in a slender V.

He gave the tree a respectful greeting, and explained what he was about to do.

The woven birch-bark pouch was heavy round his neck. He took out the stone blade, a long, notched rectangle of flint with one edge chipped to a fine sharpness. This blade had belonged to the tomahawk used by his father and his grandfather, until its handle broke; nobody knew where it had come from or when it was made. It was very precious to him.

Carefully he fitted the blade into the cleft between the tree’s two slim branches, twisting them together above it. Then, with tough strands of deer sinew from his pouch, he bound the joined branches tightly above the stone—so tightly that they would grow together as the years went by, enclosing the blade.

To make a tomahawk for your son, you needed the stone blade, and the wooden shaft, and time.

In my father’s day, there was still time.

When he’d finished his binding, he thanked the small tree, and gave it good wishes to grow straight and strong.

Then he went back across the marshland to his canoe. On the way he shot three ducks, for the feast celebrating the arrival of the baby son who had been born early that day.

I was that son. Because Flying Hawk was my father, the name they were giving me was Little Hawk.

Videos