The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

I'd forgotten how nice it is to take myself back to being a kid and read a 5th grade book. It took me only a few hours to read The Sign of the Beaver, 135 pages and one of those classic elementary school books that I should probably have already read but haven't. Shouldn't university teacher education programs have a list of all those common and classic books/authors to read before becoming a teacher? Anyway, I knew I had to read this book since it's the one all the boys in my class chose to read for our novel unit. They were all excited to read it because of the ferocious-looking bear on the cover and the backstory of settlers and Indians, a topic we've spent a good chunk of time on in our social studies units this year. Won't they be surprised when they find out that the bear appears in one short scene of the story!

I truly recommend this book to anyone. Seriously, go buy a paperback copy for $6.99 and spend a Saturday at a pool, lake or beach and READ IT. Elizabeth George Speare does a superb job translating the history of Native Americans and European settlers into a story from a 13-year-old boy's perspective. That's exactly what you have to do to get kids' attention on a topic that would be completely boring reading in a textbook. I guarantee you that after reading this book, all the boys in my class could tell you not only what the relationship was like between the settlers and the natives but also give you details on how the settlers struggled to survive in the early settlements, explain life in a native village and give you their opinions on the tribes moving away from the white settlements and the friendship between the characters Matt and Attean.

This book was a very simple and fast read for me, but the story evoked so many emotions. It wasn't an extremely predictable plot; I kept wondering if the character Ben from the beginning would show up again, and I wondered if the main character Matt's family would make it back to Matt at the cabin. I thought about all the things Matt had to do to survive on his own in the wilderness and how difficult it must have been to learn how to make his own bow and arrow, fishing pole, line and hooks, and snares, and have the patience to do all of those things correctly! The ending simply made me sad, because even though the events that took place were mostly happy I also thought about how it shows the historical reality of the natives being moved off of their homelands, and how neither the settlers nor the natives really understood each other. There is definite potential for some intense discussion of this book among my students, and that makes me happy.

This is also a Newberry Honor book, which I always make a big deal out of for the kids :)