Hattie must know something about Native people, because when a character's face is covered in soot when a barn burns down, she imagines that he has warpaint on his face.You're Never Too Young to Fight Censorship! Several times, there are references to 'free' land, but no mention of how or why that land is available in the first place. And third, well, if he does bother you, you must've been misbehaving.' In My Side of the Mountain the main character, Sam, imagines 'feathers in an Indian quiver,' thinks that 'Indian bread' is flat and hard, and when looking at aspen and birch trees, sees that they are 'bent like Indian bows.' The main character in Hattie Big Sky moves from Iowa to work her uncles homestead in Montana. Second, he's over six feet tall and smells like a wet dog. Her dad told her that 'Old Sasquatch won't bother you. When Regina was little, she was afraid to play in the woods. In chapter two of Charlene Willing McManus's Indian No More, the main character (Regina) is on the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation in Oregon. He's talking about Sasquatch, a figure who has been misrepresented over and over in children's books! Sasquatch is not a monster. In Hatchet the main character, alone in the forest after a plane crash, imagines monsters he's read about, including Big Foot. As adults, we can understand the complexity of the real world, and the value of ambiguity in literature, but seeing that the issues raised by this one book's inclusion is not developed at all, and this in a novel for children, I can only see it as a flaw in an otherwise worthwhile book. Also odd given another theme of the story: good intentions that lead to bad consequences.

It seems odd considering the theme of the story. I can see no particular reason why this book was chosen for its role in the story (unless it's a very subtle indication that some books are not as good as others - but it's quite a stretch to find that interpretation), other than mere carelessness by the author, indifference to the reasons a book may be offensive, or lack of awareness of the harm that books can perpetuate - a naive belief in the magical goodness of every written word.

There is no commentary about the merits of the book, but it is mentioned several times, giving it a prominence above many of the books named in the story - enough to send me to investigate. At one point the avid young reader is suspended and grounded with nothing to read except Indian Captive. Gratz's story is about a schoolgirl standing up against book-banning in her grade-school library. Reese's review of Indian Captive because of its appearance in Alan Gratz's 2017 novel Ban this Book.

Ban this book a novel by alan gratz