Where the Broken Heart Still Beats: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker - Softcover

Meyer, Carolyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0152956026 ISBN 13: 9780152956028

Publisher: Clarion Books, 1992

Synopsis

At the age of nine, Cynthia Ann Parker was captured in an Indian raid and taken to
live as a slave with the Comanche. Twenty-four years later, she is the wife of a chief
and the mother of a young warrior destined to become the great chief Quanah Parker.
But in 1861, Parker and her infant daughter are recaptured and returned against their
will to a white settlement. This moving story is a riveting examination of the conflicts
between Native Americans and white settlers.

About this title

About the Author:

Carolyn Meyer is the acclaimed author of more than fifty books for young people. Her many award-winning novels include Mary, Bloody Mary, an ABA Pick of the Lists, an NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, a New York Times bestseller; White Lilacs, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an NYPL Best Book for the Teen Age, and an IRA Young Adults' Choice; and Marie, Dancing, a BookSense Pick. Ms. Meyer lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Visit her website at www.readcarolyn.com.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up-- In December 1860, a 34-year-old woman, Naduah--kidnapped 25 years earlier by Comanche Indians--was ``rescued'' by sol diers and returned to the white family who recognized her as their niece/sister/cousin Cynthia Ann Parker. Where the Broken Heart Still Beats tells her story. Naduah-Cynthia Ann was a real person, and Meyer skillfully interweaves fact and fiction in her book, alter nating third-person reminiscences of Naduah's life among the Comanche with journal entries by her 12-year-old cousin, Lucy (the most sen sitive and understanding of the Parkers). The struggle between the two ways of life is long and, in the end, unsuccessful. Both points of view, the Parkers' frustration at Cynthia Ann's reluctance to be ``civilized'' and Naduah's long ing for her Indian family and customs, are pre sented believably and without editorializing. The setting, Texas at the beginning of the Civil War, is smoothly integrated into the story; the captivating characters are well drawn. Meyer includes a map, a bibliography, and an author's note in which she discusses her research and ties loose ends together. Unaccountably miss ing is the information that Naduah-Cynthia Ann's son, Chief Quanah Parker, later located his mother's brother Silas and lived with the family for a time. This omission aside, Where the Broken Heart Still Beats is a fascinating look at the Comanche and their captives and will be enjoyed by teens who like historical fic tion and/or are interested in Native Americans and the West. --Ann W. Moore, formerly at Lane Road Library, Columbus, OH
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0152956026
• ISBN 13: 9780152956028
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208