Wednesday, July 1, 1998

Many Brides for Many Brothers

In 1875 one thousand women made the perilous trek across the American prairie to become the wives of Cheyenne Indians in exchange for horses. May Dodd keeps a detailed journal of the One Thousand White Women and their adventures, friendships and histories on their mission to "civilize the natives." Many of the women are former convicts or sanitarium patients. One is homely, one is a destitute Southern belle and one a zealot. If the women stay married two years and produce children, they may have the option of leaving the tribe. For services rendered each woman will receive a parcel of land. This is a compelling historical novel with many colorful characters and tense situations.
Readers will immediately be drawn to the characters of inquisitive May, proud Euphemia, the rambunctious Kelly twins, and cultured Daisy as May carefully describes the assimilation of the women into Cheyenne daily living, learning the Cheyenee language and the selection of the brides and braves. Author Jim Fergus employs a moderate pace to ensure readers do not miss the intriguing details of the Cheyene culture. The tone is a combination of May's brisk no-nonsense attitude and innocent marveling at the unspoiled countryside and her new husband's family. Look also for the beautiful bird paintings adorning each entry and after the last page is turned, carefully view the book's cover art.

Tuesday, January 6, 1998

Books and the Blogs

Another work related project is this blog, or as I like to refer to it, "My electronic notebook of annotations." It's not nearly as comprehensive as the notebook of handwritten annotations with appeal factors, readlikes and quickie speaking appeals (thank you, Neal!). But when the editor of School Library Journal tells you, "It's a waste to keep all that precious information in a notebook. Throw it up on a blog!", you listen.


So, just in case you don't have enough to read, and I know you already do, but we're all biblio-masochists here, it's cool, you're among friends, welcome to Kaite's Book Shelf


Please let me know if you like it or not.