Reviews for Coraje de Sarah Noble

The average rating for Coraje de Sarah Noble based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-02-07 00:00:00 Mclarry Larry Summary: this tells the story of Sarah Noble who traveled with her father in 1707 to help build their family's new home in New Milford, CT. It is on the list of books not recommended by the Oyate website. Response 1 (before reading the Oyate evaluation): As I am reading, I am going to record my predictions of what the Oyate reviewers will find disturbing: - the purchase of the land by the white men - the Robinson children's manner of talking about "the Indians" (p. 10-11) and Mrs. Robinson's use of the word "savages" - Sarah's constant fear of them (not that she was scared so much as the treatment of her fear, the lack of critical discussion of why she is afraid of them or whether she should be) - it is yet another book from the white perspective (contrast with just the first few pages of "The Birchbark House") - Sarah's comment that the children she meets are hardly dressed and can't speak English (p. 266-28) - the use of the word "Indian" to describe the people whose land they have moved to instead of respecting the differences among tribes and being specific (this is the way I learned about "Indians" in school - as one homogeneous group with no tribal or regional distinctions) - the illustration on page 27 - John and Sarah Noble's renaming of a "tall Indian" whom he will call Tall John, since he cannot say his name (p. 32) and of his children whom Sarah renames Small John and Mary Overall, there are many troubling images and terms in this story, but I do believe it accurately reflects the feelings of many white people in 1707. It was also written in 1954, which adds to its representation as well. This book, like "Little House on the Prairie," which is also on Oyate's "Not Recommended" list, do relate the way many people felt at that time, and perhaps the reason they are on the "Not Recommended" list is because they do so with no critical discussion of those feelings. For example, in Sarah Noble, it is reasonable that with her experiences and they stories she has heard, that Sarah Noble herself may be fearful of meeting "the Indians"; however, the author has no critical approach to these fears, and they are presented as if they are reasonable. This book, with all its troubling details, is perhaps most troubling in its overall voice and perspective: instead of helping other white readers to examine Sarah's fears and to think about what her arrival might also mean for the people who already live there, Sarah is presented as being courageous for having faced her fears and survived her hardships, and the contact she grows to have with "the Indians" is all rather condescending and one-sided. Response 2 (after reading the Oyate evaluation): Reading Doris Seale's evaluation of this book was an excellent exercise in "insider/outsider" understanding for me. As an "outsider," I was able to pick up many of the problematic elements of the book, and I was also able to step back and view the problems in the perspective and overall presentation. I referred to the time period it depicts and to the time period in which it was written, and wondered what to do with this question. However, once I read Doris Seale's "insider" perspective, I realized that there is a depth to her evaluation that is definitely lacking in mine. While you could line up our points side by side and see that we wrote about many of the same details, she writes with a much more critical eye to the harm this book does. She evaluates the authenticity of details (which I certainly cannot do), but she also places this book in the larger context of how Native people have been presented in white literature over time, and she discusses the cumulative effect and harm this has caused. I am so glad I tried to evaluate this book on my own first, and I did ok; but it emphasized for me the power of listening to people represent themselves rather than being represented by others. Part of the point Seale makes is that Alice Dalgliesh made not attempts to research or depict "the Indians" and, had she done so, had she felt there was a need to do so, this might be a different book. This speaks to the point that one does not have to be an insider of a culture to write about it, but I feel one must first of all respect the complexities of that culture and one must also be critically aware of their own status in taking on the task of writing about another culture.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-10-04 00:00:00 Philip Gamarro I know this book has been criticized for portraying Native Americans in a negative light and propagating false information about them, but, considering that it is based on a true story and from the point of view of an 8-year-old pioneer girl in the 1700s, it is probably an accurate portrayal of what people would think or say about Native Americans at the time. The use of the term "Indians," while inaccurate at best and offensive at worst, was what people in the 1700s called them (or worse). I noticed that, while some reviewers criticized the Robinson mother for calling Indians "heathen savages" and the Robinson children saying they would kill you, cut your head off, skin you alive, and eat you, they failed to mention that Sarah's father later said to Sarah: "Mistress Robinson should teach her children to watch their words. She should watch her own." Yes, some of the things even the Nobles said and did are shocking to me, but it is because I am looking at what happened 300 years ago through very different lenses. We can't change history and shouldn't put thoughts and actions that didn't exist, and ignoring what the settlers believed and how they acted, no matter how ignorant it might have been, is hardly fair. Whether I like it or not, it is part of the history of my people. I think this book offers an opportunity for parents and educators to discuss different points of view, to look at history in all its ugliness as well as beauty, and to contrast such stories with points of view from other peoples involved, including of course those of Native Americans of various tribes. We cannot change what happened, and trying to walk in peoples' shoes, even if it's really uncomfortable, can be enlightening. I personally enjoyed this book, and I can't fault Sarah for being afraid to walk through unknown woods and encounter people of a culture so tremendously different from her own, even if her views were, yes, condescending at times. But I know better and can read without necessarily agreeing with the views depicted. As parents and educators, it's our responsibility to know what we're giving our kids to read and to use these books to teach our children right from wrong (presuming we ALL know exactly what is right and what is wrong, especially when it comes to history). I'm not saying that all books are okay to read to our children--I won't be reading Mein Kampf to my daughter any time soon to explain to her the evils of Naziism--but I do think this book is a good stepping stone for some healthy discussions about the birth of the nation of the USA. On a side note, this book was first published in 1954. People were still calling Native Americans "Indians," and I'm not going claim to know how much of history had been revised then, but I know much more has come to light since then. Another interesting point of discussion.