Colonial America comes to life in this short novel inspired by an actual meeting in 1777 between Quakers and Native Americans. To Stands Straight, a young Abenaki Indian scouting for British soldiers, all Americans are enemies; Americans killed his mother and brother. Then Stands Straight and his scouting party come upon a Quaker meetinghouse, where they encounter Americans who carry no weapons, value peace, and greet them as friends. The result? The Abenaki decide to remain neutral in the clash between the British and the colonists who are fighting for independence. Bruchac skillfully develops his characters and wins sympathy for the conflicts they face by telling the story from alternating viewpoints–Stands Straight and that of fourteen-year-old Quaker Samuel Russell. An afterward by the author provides more historical information along with personal anecdotes about how the writer became interested in this story and his surprise in learning that the Indians described in his research were probably Abenaki–his own native heritage.
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