The Warriors

by Joseph Bruchac

Overview

When twelve-year-old Jake Forrest's mother gets a job in a new city, everything changes. He has to move away from the Iroquois reservation he's lived on his entire life—away from his aunt and uncle, and away from the friends he plays lacrosse with. The lacrosse coach and players at his new school in Washington, D.C., believe that winning is everything, and they don't know anything about the ways of his people. As Jake struggles to find a place where he truly belongs, tragedy strikes and he must find out who he really is. Can he find courage to face the warrior within—the warrior who values peace and leads other to more noble pursuits than outscoring the opposition?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781581960228
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2004
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,031,218
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 7.56(h) x 0.33(d)
Lexile:	810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Joseph Bruchac was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, and grew up in the Adirondack foothills. He began to take an interest in his Abenaki heritage when he was a teenager. Mr. Bruchac has written many books, poems, plays, and short stories—most of which include tales, characters, and teachings from his Native American roots. Performing as a storyteller allows him another way to preserve his Abenaki culture.

Editorial Reviews

Opening with fast-paced sketches of a lacrosse game and punctuated by the reverent thoughts of a teenage Iroquois player, Bruchac's (Pocahontas, reviewed below) contemporary novel will draw in both sports enthusiasts and those with an interest in Native American culture. Jake Forrest, who has grown up on the "rez," leaves it to live with his widowed mother, a high-powered attorney. When he enters an exclusive boys' prep school, he learns that it has made room for him based on his lacrosse prowess; student life revolves around the game. Thanks to his gifts, Jake seems to gain acceptance easily. However, his teammates' and coach's well-meaning but ignorant remarks leave Jake isolated and increasingly aware of the enormous differences in their values. Only after the coach is seriously injured does Jake find a way to explain the spiritual dimensions of lacrosse and to embody the Iroquois ideal: "To be a true warrior meant you had to love peace and keep that love of peace in your heart." While the plot seems contrived to deliver the lesson, and while Jake, in all his perfection and purity, seems more paragon than a flesh-and-blood character, Bruchac offsets these drawbacks with the smoothness of the prose and the beauty of his evocation of Native American spirituality and wisdom traditions. Readers will want to believe in the story and in Jake. Ages 9-11. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 5-8-Contemporary realistic fiction that incorporates background information on a specific Native American culture but does not overwhelm readers is far too rare. In Warriors, Bruchac introduces Jake Forrest, a young teenager who leaves the Iroquois reservation where he was raised to live with his mother, a lawyer in Maryland, and attend a prestigious private boy's school. Like many kids his age, Jake wrestles with the difficulties of moving to a new city, fitting in at a new school, and trying to make the best of his one-parent family. Additionally, he endures many little offenses, like the nickname "Chief," and bigger ones, like the biased presentation of events in history class. Throughout the novel, the author mixes just the right amount of universal teen experience and culturally specific perspective to make Jake's story appealing to a broad audience. Plus, as a sports novel, Warriors is just plain fun, with action-packed descriptions of lacrosse that put readers right on the field with the players. One hopes that books like this will encourage more teens, from all ethnic backgrounds, to recognize and internalize their own traditions instead of opting for mainstream popular culture.-Sean George, Memphis-Shelby County Public Library & Information Center, Memphis, TN Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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