Moccasin Trail, by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

The book begins with our protagonist Jim Keath checking his traps and lamenting the state of trapping this season.  Jim is a wanderer, traveling only with his horse and dog, and occasionally a friend.  Over time his history is revealed to the reader: as a child he fled his strict upbringing to follow his uncle, also a trapper, into the forests.  But during a fight with a bear, he was gravely injured.  When he woke, he was in a teepee being cared for by an Indian woman.  She had lost a son and, since she was able to restore him to health, claimed Jim as her own.  He learned the language and culture and lived among the Crow Indians for six years before striking out on his own, not feeling like he truly belonged with them or with white men.

While Jim is tracking animals, he's also being tracked down by two Indians.  A paper letter has been making its way from hand to hand trying to reach him, and it had finally arrived.  Neither Jim nor his companion can read well enough to interpret it.  All he knows is that it may have come from his (biological) brother.  So he heads to the nearest fort to find some one who can read the letter for him, a trip that takes more than a week.

When Jim reaches The Dalles, he learns that his parents have died and his siblings, all youth, are on their own heading to Oregon to homestead.  But they need his help: the oldest, Johnnie, can't make a land claim because he isn't yet 18.  Jim is their last hope to establish a home, even if he only signs the paperwork before leaving again.  And coincidentally, the family is at the fort now.  Jim feels the pull of them, even though they haven't seen each other in ages.  He agrees to travel with them, but chafes under their rules and expectations.  His sister, Sally, doesn't care for his braids and medicine bundle.  Johnnie gets angry when he teaches the youngest, Dan'l, the ways of the woods instead of helping.  And once they complete the journey and find land in the Willamette Valley, it seems that everyone is angry with him: he's not a farmer or a carpenter.  He doesn't understand the need to plow and sow when the land is rich with game and natural crops.  He doesn't like feeling confined in a cabin when his teepee goes up much more quickly, is more snug, and is portable.  This lifestyle doesn't suit his inclinations, but he realizes that he has become lonely for his family and desperately wants Johnnie's approval.

This was a really well-written book that did a fantastic job of developing the main characters.  The reader really comes to sympathize with Jim's inner struggles and to hope he finds his place in the world.  I was admittedly disappointed in the ending (Jim settles down and goes "full white"), but it may seem a far more fitting conclusion to others.

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, by Alice Dalgliesh

I've had to break my own rule here.  Generally I try to include the cover images that matches the copy of the book I read, whether or not it's a first edition.  This time around, the library's copy of the book has a one-of-a-kind cover hand-drawn years ago by an 11-year-old back in the 1990's.  Her name was on the back.  I wrote her; she's in her 30's with a child now.  She was amazed that this is still in a library somewhere :-)

We've encountered our good friend Alice Dalgliesh twice before.  However, unlike the other youth novels we've covered in the blog, this is intended for much younger readers.  Although it's divided into chapters, this is definitely a one-sitting read.

Jonathan lives by the foot of a mid-sized hill, named (not especially accurately) Hemlock Mountain.  His family is planning to host a christening, but because they have such a large extended family they will need to borrow aunt Emma's giant soup tureen.  Because the adults are busy with preparations, Jonathan is sent over the hill to bring it back.  Although no bear has been seen there in recent memory, Jonathan is still concerned about heading out alone (he's never been before).  Not especially reassured by his parents' insistence that there are no bears on Hemlock Mountain, he heads out and reaches his destination safely.

Stomach full from aunt Emma's cookies, Jonathan naps in her chair and forgets that he was charged with returning with the soup tureen before dark.  He wakes up just in time to lug it back up the hill.  But as dusk falls, Jonathan sees two sets of eyes attached to two dark, hulking bodies, moving through the trees. . . what to do?

This book would make a fantastic read-aloud for younger children.  I may read it to mine before it goes back to the library!

Red Sails to Capri, by Ann Weil

So I noticed that this one had a logo on the back cover indicating that it was published by Sonlight Curriculum, which, I discovered upon further research, is a Christian homeschooling publishing company.  I'm curious as to how this was selected and why (it doesn't have religious overtones of any kind), but I can't object to the content, either.  They have this one indicated for second grade.

Fourteen-year-old Michele lives on the island of Capri with his parents.  They tend a small inn together but can barely make ends meet.  At the beginning of the book, a boat with beautiful red sails, unlike any seen before, approaches the island and three foreigners depart.  Because it is the off season, Michele's family would be beyond thrilled to host them.  Michele's fisherman friend, Angelo, agrees to intercept the visitors and make sure they don't go to the competitor, while Michele races home to warn his parents so they can prepare the vacant hotel.

When the guests arrive, the Pagano family learns that they are foreigners from three different countries, each pursuing a different passion.  Lord Derby, from England, has come to seek beauty and to paint.  Herre Erik Nordstrom, from Denmark, is a student of Philosophy and seeks truth.  Monsieur Jacques Tiersonnier, a Frenchman, is a writer in search of adventure.

The three guests, and the Paganos, find their source of adventure soon enough.  Monsieur Jacques brings Michele and his best friend, Pietro, for a sail in his fabulous red-sailed boat.  They pass a cove that the visitors would like to explore, but it is forbidden among the islanders to even discuss the cove, let alone the reasons it is off-limits to visit the cave there.  But the visitors, new to the strange social stigma of discussing this topic in this far-flung locale, are having none of it.  Once they hear the legend, they make plans to return to discover the truth of the cove and the cave.

This was a light and fun read.  It's also fortunate that the book was reasonably short since none of the reveal about the cave actually happens until very close to the end.  But it is reasonably firmly based on a true story, which I would have liked a brief summary of at the end.

Secret of the Andes, by Ann Nolan Clark

Cusi, a young boy, lives high in the mountains of Peru.  With him live a herd of llamas, his faithful dog, and Chuto, an old Indian man.  It never occurs to him to question the nature of his isolated life until, peering into the valley below, he notices a new family camped there.  There are a mother, father, and two small children.  He sees the love and comfort that exists between them and wonders why he has neither mother, father, nor siblings, and longs to experience that sense of family for himself.

When circumstances show that Cusi is ready, he departs from Chuto with a small herd of llamas to find the ancient city of Cuzco, in hopes of finding a family of his own.  Along the way, though, he discovers that much in the city is foreign to him.  Raised in traditional Incan culture, he learns that most people speak an unfamiliar language (Spanish), have strange churches to a foreign God, and live in a way that he doesn't understand.

Nonetheless, he joins a family with many children (the parents' philosophy is generally "the more, the merrier") as they travel the city to trade before heading home.  But his Indian name doesn't fit (they rename him Nicho), and although they're happy and friendly, Cusi never really feels at home with them.  So he slips out in the night and heads back to the mountain.

Cusi learns over the course of his travels that he is descended from Incan royalty and, like Chuto before him, is charged with supporting the Indians of Peru from the background- remembering and teaching the traditional ways, keeping the language, and making gifts from his herd of llamas to keep the culture alive.  Because although the Incans were conquered, they will be part of Peru forever.