The Game of Silence

Erdrich, Louise. The Game of Silence. New York: HarperCollins. 2005.
ISBN 0-06-441029-3

Summary

The title refers to a game that the children of Omakayas's tribe play when the adults are talking about things that are important and boring. Unfortunately this is a game that they have need of playing a lot as the tribe finds that the U.S. government has lied to them and is driving them out of their land. The story takes place on an island on Lake Superior, and predominately about the simple day to day life of a young girl and her family, but ultimately deals with the push to force the Native Americans west, and the cost to the Native Americans- hunger, starvation, death, orphans being taken in by other families. It deals with the best and worst parts of human nature. It teaches little life lessons that children learn along the way. It displays the life of a young girl as she changes through the joys and struggles of life and growing as she faces being alone with the spirits who will be her guide. The setting seems unfamiliar to someone who has never even seen the Great Lakes, but the characters are familiar. The beautiful older sister, the annoying little brother, best friend, grandmother, father, mother, people of the community. These are all the same for most readers, though they go by different titles here. These familiar things help detract from what you don't know about the time period, so that you pick up facts in bit and pieces of the narrative. For example, in this exchange with her sister at the end of a long day of fishing,

"'You're crazy,' Omakayas grumped, knowing her adored older sister was too far out in the water to hear her. 'And I'm all tired out and cold. I'm leaving.'"

We see that common attitude of a typical younger sister, but are aware that they have been out fishing all day in order to trade the fish for supplies.


Reviews


"this long-awaited sequel is framed by catastrophe, but the core of the story, which is set in 1850, is white settlers'threats to the traditional Ojibwe way of life. Omakayas is now nine and living at her beautiful island home in Lake Superior. But whites want Ojibwe off the island: Where will they go? In addition to an abundance of details about life through the seasons, Erdrich deals with the wider meaning of family and Omakayas'coming-of-age on a vision quest."
-Booklist starred (May 15, 2005 (Vol. 101, No. 18))


Enrichment Activity

Omakayas has many dreams that seem to be predictors of what is to come. Students can describe a dream that they have had, and then illustrate it, or chose one of Omakayas' dreams to illustrate. This could be followed by writing about what you drew, especially with older students to work on adjectives and adverbs to describe their dreams well.

Iron Thunder

Avi. Iron Thunder. New York: Hyperion. 2007.

ISBN 10-142310446-3

Summary

Tom is a boy who just lost his father in the Civil War. His mother does laundry for ironworkers and brings in a little money each week, and his sister is ill and unable to work much to help support the family. Tom’s mother finds him a job at the iron yard that will make 75 cents a week, and he takes it. Little does he know that he is about to become part of history. He becomes the right hand man of Captain Ericsson, the inventor of the iron clad called the Monitor. Tom goes from resenting his job to finding himself approached by spies from the south to becoming the first recruit to serve on the Monitor as it goes to head off the Merrimac. This story is masterfully crafted around the character of Tom, dealing with the struggles of a young man torn between taking care of his family, staying safe, and going on the adventure of a lifetime that might just lead to his death. The fact that this is just a story about a boy makes the rest of the setting less intimidating, and the pictures and facts about the actual events complement what Tom is going through.

“I was pretty quiet over my coffee, bread, and molasses, thinking about all that was going to happen: the launching and Mr. Quinn. The wasy I was feeling, either way I would be sunk.”

Reviews

Decked out with the appurtenances of nonfiction—maps, a resource list (leaning toward upper-level titles), and a generous array of contemporary prints for illustrations—Avi’s historical novel views the construction of the Monitor and the ensuing epochal battle with its Confederate rival through the eyes of an actual but fictionalized crew member.

-Booklist (August 2007 (Vol. 103, No. 22))

Enrichment Activity

The fear throughout the novel at the seaworthiness of this craft leads to a fun experiement. Have each student bring an empty food can to decorate at the Monitor according to the descriptions and pictures in the book, and then see if it will actually float. This is the same lesson that Tom learns about displacement. Students can then document their findings in a journal or create a picture and caption of what happened.

NightJohn

Paulsen, Gary. NightJohn. New York: Bantam Doubleday. 1993.
ISBN 0-440-91014-5

Summary

NightJohn is the story of a slave girl named Sarny who learns to read when a slave named John comes to the plantation. John knows how to read and has gone on a mission to teach slaves to read, which is illegal. John goes from plantation to plantation teaching whoever is willing to be taught, sometimes at a very high price. This story is carefully crafted with historical accuracy in mind to tell more than just Sarny’s story, but the stories of slaves throughout the history of the United States. The setting, plot, characters, and theme are all appropriate for a story in the south prior to the Civil War. The cruelty of slave owners, and the strength of Sarny and John make this a lasting story. Paulsen addresses with care tough parts of what would have been real life at the time from eating out of a trough to being hung by chains on a wall until you are beaten at the end of the day, he handles these hard concepts without being disrespectful to the people this really happened to. Paulsen excels at giving enough information to understand what is going on, but not so much that you are overwhelmed, which allows for your imagination to make up for the difference. The following quote when Sarny is caught writing words in the dirt describes more than this summery can say:

“’It’s all my doings.’ I pulled at the chains but they don’t give. ‘ I be making the word and forgot where I was and he saw me and now he’s going to whip you.’”

Reviews

“What gives the story transcendence is the character Nightjohn, who fires Sarny with hope. He once escaped north to freedom, and now he's come back to teach slaves what is fiercely forbidden them--reading. When he's caught showing Sarny the alphabet, two of his toes are cut off, but he escapes again.”
-Booklist (Vol. 89, No. 8 (December 15, 1992))

A searing picture of slavery, sometime in the 19th century at an unspecified place in the South. Sarny, young enough not to have experienced the rape that will come inexorably with child-bearing age, tell Kirkus Review (1993)
-Kirkus Review (1993)

Enrichment Activity

To follow reading NightJohn, teaching the students some of the spirituals that were sung in the time period might be appropriate. Going over the words and the ideas behind them would be a very important task, and one to do carefully to help the students understand why songs like this would be sung. Playing a recording of one would be helpful as well as looking at the lyrics. Then have the students each write their own song incorporating some of the events that occurred in NightJohn.