From: drabkin <arcanis>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 15:54:07 -0800

Florence McElligott wrote:

I am so relieved to see someone else voice what I felt about Birchbark House. I read it, then re-read it looking for whatever it was that has been getting such lauds from this group (and other groups). However, whatever spark was found by others was not apparent to me, not even on a third reading.

I thought the book was very worthy, very educational, undoubtedly (though I am no expert) very accurate on details of Native life -- and that it had about as much excitement and interest as any other worthy, educational, accurate piece of writing. If I were a teacher, I'd welcome it as a teaching tool, but I'm not. Yes, my library is buying it, because of its author, and because, like most libraries, we're in need of something that presents an accurate picture of Native American life before the Europeans took over the land. But altogether, I found it dull -- very dull. The main reason I had to read it three times is that I kept forgetting it. I cannot imagine a child choosing to read it for fun
-- it seems to me a book that would have to either be assigned by a teacher, or read with a child by an adult, or read by parent and child together.

I think the adjective I've been looking for (besides "worthy") is "plodding".

Marian Drabkin
Received on Wed 12 Jan 2000 05:54:07 PM CST