Alan Tack
[A tale] of courage simply told and arrestingly illustrated... —Native Peoples
Home to Medicine Mountain
Paperback
(First Trade Paper Edition)
$7.95
- ISBN-13: 9780892391769
- Publisher: Lee & Low Books, Inc.
- Publication date: 04/01/2013
- Edition description: First Trade Paper Edition
- Pages: 32
- Sales rank: 110,691
- Product dimensions: 8.30(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.20(d)
- Lexile: 520L (what's this?)
- Age Range: 6Years
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Two young brothers are separated from their family and sent to live in a government-run Indian residential school in the 1930s—an experience shared by generations of Native American children throughout North America. At these schools, children were forbidden to speak their Indian languages and made to unlearn their Indian ways. Sadly, they were often not able to go home to their families for summer vacation. Native American artist Judith Lowry based this story on the experiences of her father and her Uncle Stanley. Judith and author Chiori Santiago tenderly relate how Stanley and Benny Len found their way home by train one summer. Inspired by their dreams of home and the memories of their grandmother's stories, the boys embark on an adventurous journey from the harsh residential school to their triumphant welcome home at Susanville, California, in the shadow of Yo-Tim Yamne (Medicine Mountain).
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Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
The real-life experiences of Lowry's father and uncle fuel this account of two Native American brothers in California, sent to a government-run boarding school in the 1930s to unlearn their traditional ways. While the book discloses a sad chapter in the long history of the disenfranchisement of Native Americans, it will also resonate with any kid who has been homesick. But the storytelling wobbles. There is little buildup to the main event--occurring when the boys, still children, ride the rails home for summer break--and the contrast between the regimented life at school and life at home does not create narrative momentum. Lowry's stylized artwork works well both for the prison-like school and the happier scenes at Medicine Mountain: the sharp edges of her compositions lend themselves to a cold, hard look and to a more innocent, naive style. Kids will also be interested to see Native Americans at home in jeans and dresses. This book goes a long way toward replacing romanticized stereotypes with something closer to history, but remains less than satisfying as a story. Children's Literature - Michael Cooper
Thousands of Indian children once attended government run boarding schools. In the early years, these schools were quite harsh. The young Indians, somewhat like new Marines, were stripped of their identity and drilled around the clock in the rudiments of white civilization. This book is about two brothers who are sent to one of these schools in southern California. The homesick boys are especially unhappy when the spring term ends because they don't have enough money to go home for the summer. They solve the problem by hopping a freight train home to northern California. This simple story, illustrated with richly colored pictures, is based on the real experiences of the illustrator's father and uncle. Unfortunately, neither the boys nor their experiences are described well enough to evoke empathy or interest.School Library Journal
For decades, Native American children were taken from their families and sent to government-run boarding schools. There, the youngsters lost precious contact with their cultures, their languages, and their families. In this personal story, the illustrator shows through vivid, full-page paintings the story of her father and uncle finding their way home from such a school in the 1930s. Stanley and Benny Len, inspired by their grandmother's stories, undertook their own adventure to get home for the summer. Late one night, they hitched a secret ride on a train headed for home, a ride that was destined to become a favorite family tale. The boarding school and teachers are shown in an unflattering light, especially as seen through these memories. The artist and author have brought a little-known chapter of history to children's attention, and have done so in an appealing way. The colorful paintings and intelligent text tell a loving story, best for one-on-one or personal reading. A welcome title.-- Mary B. McCarthy, Windsor Severance Library District, ColoradoKirkus Reviews
In the 1930s, many native children were sent away from their families to boarding school, where they were forbidden to speak their own languages or practice their own traditions, in the name of becoming more "American." This is the true adventure of how illustrator Lowry's father, Benny Len, and her uncle, Stanley, "escaped" from their school when they realized they would not be allowed to go home for summer vacation. The boys hop a freight train home in the middle of the night; their families are overjoyed at their return. Poetic drawings illustrate both the excitement of the adventure and the spiritual side of the boys' life, as the elements of their culture call to them. Winning readers' sympathies from the outset is the comparison of the clocks, classrooms, and uniforms of boarding school with indigenous customs, where time "didn't march in neat rows," and children were taught not by rote but from their grandmother's stories. The ending is perfect: A snapshot of the two runaways, now middle-aged, shows them with big grins on their faces, definitely having the last laugh.