As a window into the life of a Native American tribe that has lived on Cape Cod since long before the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, this book stretches well beyond the Clambake. Beautifully told and photographed, it is the story of how Steven, a Wampanoag Indian boy, is instructed in the tradition of clambaking from his grandfather, Russell Peters. In the process, he learns a great deal about his people, as does the reader.

Wampanoag Indians are the original tribe that met the pilgrims and white settlers and it is about time that someone stepped up to the plate and told the truth. A fantastic book about the true Native Americans that are alive and strong today that white america will never embrace and accept the fact that they are beautiful people with a rich culture and heritage

This is one of the finest works on the subject of loss yet written. Whether the reader is dealing with the recent loss of a loved one or needs comfort years after their beloved is gone, this piece of brilliant, honest writing is ideal. A wonderful job of writing, and a wonderful love story. A thank you is in order to Mrs. Coughlin. Your effort is greatly appreciated.

This book is a "must read" for people who have lost a loved one, or for that matter, if you have lost anyone...or are facing the iminent prospect of death. (As we all are...) It is sensitive, realistic and most of all, it's a love story. It's honest and beautiful. It needs to be available...for everyone. I've never written a review before, and this book has moved me that much...

This is without doubt the most outstanding work on the subject of losing a spouse or lover. The rality and compelling writing make it a must read for anyone, whether they have suffered a loss or not.

This is a great book. It is an authentic source children's book teaching the harvesting of maple syrup and sugar. Porky White, who the book features, is an elder sho has passed away. This book captures his story of sugar making. No romantic Indian images here. Real people participating in the traditional way of life. I think this is a great book for kids and adults. Would be good in the classroom.

It is a topic that many use slang and euphemisms to describe,or avoid talking about at all. Mother's pass along factual books and try to bravely discuss it with their daughters, who approach it with mixed feelings. "It" has been called many things in American culture, but in Navajo culture, it is celebrated at a Kinaalda.

A young woman's Kinaalda is celebrated around the time of her first menstrual cycle. She celebrates the time when she is being shaped into a woman in a ceremony that lasts two to four days. Photographer and writer, Monty Roessel, allows us to be privledged viewers of 13 year old Celinda McKelvey's Kinaalda. During the ceremony, Celinda wears a traditional blanket dress, takes on the adult role of grinding corn to make a huge corn cake, is literally molded into a woman by the hands of others, and runs a race for blessings of health and longevity. It is a trial of endurance, as growing up often is.

This book presents a view of menstruation that can be difficult to convey to the newly initiated and to those who are still waiting. This book tells us that it is a time to celebrate. It is a time to acknowledge becoming a woman. Celinda is both honored and validated in her new status. She finds support and positive attention during her Kinaalda. Even though many young women outside of the Navajo culture may not want a ceremony for their special time, this book is an asset to own. It is a wonderful way to see this experience across cultural beliefs.

Most adults who are avid readers suffered the same condition as a child. Here are reminiscences of contemporary writers revealing their introductions to a life-long preoccupation with the magic and mystery of words and reading. Many common elements emerge: being read to at a very young age, fascination with the ideas and lives of other people, a special person (friend or family) who passes on a love for reading to a child. (Are we all closet voyeurs, peeking in at the childhood experiences common to many?) It's been a pleasure to read about the pleasures of reading.

I want to tell you that heaven is richer by one wonderful communicator. I have devoured everything Louise Erdrich ever wrote and always wondered what kind of wonderful husband supported that writer. I treated myself to Paper Trail to celebrate getting through grad school midterms. The book is a baum to the soul of anyone who cares about relationships between people, children, the disadvantaged, the state of Indian Affairs in this country. My prayers to you all. Us "half-breed-Irish" will go on; we always do, but without our Michael. Tanis Good Gloe

I loved A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, but was very disappointed with this book. The thing that annoyed me the most is that Rayona speaks like an adult, yet in this story she is 11 years old. Her reflections, her observations about her surroundings, are not in synch with the thoughts of a pre-pubescent girl, no matter how mature and developed she is. I wish the author had taken this fact into consideration. Also, some of the vignettes, especially the one with the Potters and with Mrs. Jackson, have no development at all. These episodes are mentioned almost in passing.

What touched me the most are Rayona's ambivalent feelings for her mother. However, the way that Rayona verbalizes those feelings is way too mature and rational for a child her age.

I'd be curious to hear the opinions of the intended readers, the kids. Maybe they are more forgiving than i am. Once again, the willing suspension of disbelief fails me. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, though, is not to be missed. Rayona is a teenager by then, and it's a totally different playfield.

This book definiltely lived up to my expectations, and more. Knowing full well before I read it that it was a children's book, I expected it to be very understandable and easy. It was of course, but the emotions and situations dealt with were far more mature than I had imagined. He used quite a bit of interesting similes and descriptive sentences. Overall, I think this was a very good book and I would love to read some of his adult novels.

I loved the book. I thought that it is a very good book for teenagers to read and especially foster kids because that is what it deals with.

I admit it...I never in a million years would have read Ramona, if not forced to do so by my history professor for a class in race & ethnicity in American History. However, having said that, I found the book a thoroughly enjoyable read...overdramaticized, yes, but we can forgive it when we consider the original date of publication. However, it is the story behind the story that is most interesting. What Ramona truly is....a middle class white woman's perception of what it might be like to be an Indian. Jackson was an abolitionist turned author in the 1830's. This is her most recognized and extensive work. So the next time you read it, if you read between the lines, you will see HER innate prejudices and assumptions. But,like I said, I enjoyed it immensely and reccomend it as a fun read...but don't take it too literally...it is after all, fiction

As a playwright, I haven't been inspired to adapt a novel until I read Ramona. What works for me? The melodrama is, after all, average, and the love story...a little predictable. But there's something audacious about author Helen Hunt Jackson and her bold "Mother Jones" muckraking persona that constantly reminds you throughout the pages about the injustices committed against Native Americans. Yet, in spite of this heavy message, there's something utterly fascinating about its main characters--the beautiful Ramona, the daring Alessandro, the unforgiving Senora, even the wimpy Felipe. They create a powerful scenario worthy of intelligent, passionate drama. I, in turn, wrote the play which has been produced at PlayWright's Theater in Phoenix and at Arizona State University in Tempe. I've adapted the story, done my own interpretation of it, but the essence has remained the same.

Ramona, set in early Spanish/Mexican California, weaves the tale of love between the Indian Allessandro and the Mexican-Indian girl Ramona. Rich, deep characters and vivid description of the landscapes makes this novel a great piece of California historical fiction. Through Jackson's powerful illustrations, the racism Mexicans and Indians both endured at the hands of White and Mexican settlers is experienced by the reader. Yet the love story is what makes this book and Jackson's romanticism of the landscape and the main charcaters only enhances Californians' fascination with Mission Revival.

In my 9th grade English class, we were allowed to choose from six books the book we wanted to read. I chose this book for the sole reason of reading about the actual life of Michael Dorris, and not at all about the Native American inclination to alcoholism or the implications of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). As I started reading it, I found it painfully difficult to read the endless chapters of technical terms and Dorris' own interpretation of Native Americans, which turned out to be most of the book. I did find the parts where he described actual events that happened to Adam and him somewhat interesting, but that was the farthest extent to which I enjoyed this book. I was forced to continue reading this book since it was for my English class, but otherwise I would have stopped long before the second half. However, since I had no other option, I chose to be optimistic, thinking that the book couldn't possibly get any worse. It got worse. Especially the part where he interviews the FAS researchers, in which he asked them the exact same questions, and recieved the exact same answers. The final thing that bothered me about this book was Dorris' use of language. Intricate vocabulary and complex sentence structure do, to some extent, make the prose more enjoyable, but his word choice made the book difficult to understand and even more difficult to enjoy. My last statement will be this: All the other reviewers of this book may have enjoyed it because of their interest in FAS, and that was why they enjoyed it so much. So if you're looking for a book about a man and his adopted child, and their relationship, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. But if you are looking for information on FAS, by all means, disregard this review.

It would be a shame if the circumstances surrounding the author's death cast a shadow over this fine book, because it is beautifully written, deeply felt, and a devastating account of the impact of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) among Native Americans.

Michael Dorris, a young unmarried college teacher and writer, adopts a Native American boy "Adam" whose developmental problems, he believes, are the result of poor nutrition, poor health care, and lack of proper parenting. In time, however, he discovers that Adam was born with FAS, a condition Dorris knows very little about. Believing that proper care can reverse the effects of FAS, he takes on the daunting and nearly futile task of helping Adam achieve a "normal" boyhood. The damage done, it turns out, is irreversible; Adam is almost maddeningly unable to learn simple tasks and responsibilities. FAS-related health problems, including seizures, often turn merely difficult days and nights into nightmares for the single father.

The book Dorris writes is meant as an eye-opener for readers who are unaware of the potential harm in consuming alcohol during pregnancy. Given naturally to research and study, he shares with the reader much of what he learns about FAS and the Native American culture that has had such a fatal connection with alcohol. To that extent, this is almost a textbook on the subject.

But this is also the story of a father and son, and most poignant, for this reader, is the relationship between them that is a thread throughout the book. Dorris never surrenders to the barriers that exist between him and his son. Having taken responsibility for Adam, he gives his all to making even the smallest difference in the boy's life. It's a heroic effort and often heartbreaking.

"The Broken Cord" is the heart-wrenching story of a young man, single and in graduate school, who adopts a developmentally disabled boy who, like himself, has Native American ancestry. The man learns gradually that his son suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, just as the medical community is starting to figure out what Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is. As a child psychologist, I have found the information in this book invaluable. You can read research papers, journal articles, and textbooks to learn all of the facts of what Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is (a complex set of deficits caused by in utero exposure to alcohol), but "The Broken Cord" goes well beyond that and lets you know what it's like to live with, raise, and love a child with this disorder. This book is full of love, pain, and limited triumphs. It is also very well-written. Have a box of tissues handy.