Bruchac's (The Arrow Over the Door) intimate novel about Lewis and Clark's epic Western exploration unfolds through the alternating voices of Sacajawea, their Shoshone interpreter, and Clark. Sacajawea's now-grown son, Pomp (Jean Baptiste Charbonneau), introduces the two narrators, explaining that Shoshone custom dictates that "one can tell only what they have seen"; since he was not yet born at the beginning of the adventure, he recounts the tale as it was told to him. Sacajawea's chapter follows, opening with a creation tale of the "great flood"--each of her chapters begins with either Shoshone tales or those of other tribes the crew encounters, and many function as cautionary fables; relevant journal entries introduce Clark's chapters. This framing device results in a few contrived references in the narrative (e.g., "The fur trade, Pomp, can make a brave man rich or cost him his life," says Clark), and the assumption that Pomp already knows the story occasionally diminishes the suspense. But Bruchac builds the alternating chapters chronologically and keeps the pace moving. Both narrators recount intriguing cultural nuances; for example, when a deserter from the expedition is recovered, the Otoes Indians plead the white man's case, arguing that it would be better to kill him than humiliate him with a public whipping. The greatest strength of the novel, however, is Sacajawea's voice, enhanced by the lyrical repetition of traditional storytelling ("It was the Moon when the Leaves Fall from the Cottonwoods," she recalls of the day she first sees Lewis and Clark). The author adheres closely to journals kept by members of the expedition, creating characters who are both lifelike and compelling, at a fascinating juncture in history. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Gr 7 Up-Joseph Bruchac's fascinating story (Harcourt, 2000) of the life of the woman who was pivotal to the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition is an outstanding example of historical fiction told from mutliple perspectives. The alternating voices of Sacajawea and Captain William Clark (Nicolle Littrell and Michal Rafkin), as well as excerpts from Clark's journals, illustrate the tremendous hardships faced by the Corps of Discovery along with the exhiliration of exploring new territory and encountering other cultures. In its well-crafted written format, readers can easily follow the narrative flow. The recorded version suffers from several defects that detract significantly from the pleasure of listening to it. The most noticeable is that Littrell's cadences and voice inflection have a distinctly sing-song quality that, while meant to convey the fact that English was a second language for Sacajawea, merely becomes annoying to the ear because they are so pronounced. In addition, the Native American stories (often featuring Coyote, the Trickster) at the beginning of many of the book's chapters are difficult to distinguish from the main text.-Cindy Lombardo, Orrville Public Library, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
This fine historical novel alternates between the voices of Sacajawea, the young Shoshone woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition, and William Clark, one of the expedition leaders. The journey from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back, full of hardships and close calls, makes exciting reading. Sacajawea's intelligence and strength come across, especially in Clark's entries, which also set the story in a historical context. Folk tales and excerpts from the expedition journals open each chapter, and a map shows the route. Children who have seen Sacajawea's face on the new dollar coin will enjoy learning more about her and her role in history.
The Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the northwest part of the American continent probably would not have ever been completed without the help of the young Shoshone woman Sacajawea. She and her sister, Otter Woman, were kidnapped from their tribe and kept captive by the Minetarees, a tribe that had been influenced in language and customs by its years of contact with French and English traders. Sacajawea picked up the ability to speak the whites' languages—a skill that stood her in good stead five years later when a French trader, Toussaint Charbonneau, won her and Otter Woman from their Minetaree captor. Charbonneau married the young Sacajawea, and they had a son. Soon after, Charbonneau was hired by Lewis and Clark to accompany their expedition in its next phase along the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean—and Charbonneau was invited to bring his family along. This was wonderful news to Sacajawea, whose great dream was to be united once again with her Shoshone family. Much has been written about Sacajawea's role in the expedition, how she and her child disarmed even the most hostile Indians and how her skill in languages, along with her ability to find food, kept them all going through the severe rigors of the long trip. The story in this book is told in alternative voices by Sacajawea and William Clark, the co-leader of the expedition, giving an added dimension to the tale and helping to clarify much of what happened along the way. Couched in Bruchac's elegant prose, this epic tale of courage and endurance is both a grand adventure story and an inspiration that is not to be missed. (Fiction. 12-14)
The true beauty of this tape lies in the fact that these two voices resonate across time and cultures. Sacajawea’s narrative is always prefaced by metaphorical native tales; Captain Clark’s story follows excerpts from Meriwether Lewis’s text of the ex-pedition. The readings of these cultural brackets are masterful, for we are made fully aware of the differences between oral recitation, reading text, and storytelling. Michael Rafkin eloquently distinguishes between the two Virginian explorers. Nicole Littrell gives us an apt storyteller and a reflective woman, never a stereotyped native voice. Hissing “s’s” disrupt the flow but not the impact of this highly entertaining family narrative. P.R. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
