My Lady Pocahontas - Hardcover

Kudlinski, Kathleen V.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761452931 ISBN 13: 9780761452935

Publisher: Skyscape, 2006

Synopsis

Neetah, Pocahontas’s Pamunkey friend and servant, could hear the words princess and My Lady whispered from the lips of the white men who had settled in the colony they called Jamestown.

Pocahontas, the daughter of the Supreme Chief of the Confederacy, was important in their eyes, and Neetah, too, could see something special within her bold friend.

She accompanied Pocahontas to Jamestown regularly, to this fort of smelly, hairy men whose food supply was slowly disappearing. The girls’ mission was clear: to protect the Confederacy by finding out as much as they could about these strangers and report back to the Supreme Chief. But the daring Pocahontas, led by visions, had other intentions as well. My Lady Pocahontas tells an important early chapter of America’s history from the Pamunkey viewpoint as the drama of two clashing cultures unfolds. Author's note and bibliography included.

About this title

About the Author

Kathleen has been named a Master Teaching Artist for the State of Connecticut and has visited nearly two hundred schools, designed and implemented a dozen paired school residencies, as well as presenting at regional and national conferences. She has led critique groups for professional writing organizations and teaches writing for children. Kathleen lives in a small town in Connecticut with her husband on the edge of a deep, wild pond and often writes at their log cabin in Springfield, Vermont. Her household includes an artist son, a dog, an ancient cat, and five snakes.

Reviews

Grade 6-8–Abundant historical detail underlies this rich fictional account of the life of Pocahontas. Based on extensive in-depth research and told largely from the Native American viewpoint, the story highlights how difficult it was to develop lines of communication and understanding. The tale begins in 1607 when Pocahontas is about 11 years old. Her spunky and fearless nature comes across as she spies on the strange new people, along with her fictitious friend Neetah, to bring information back to her people. Neetah is a well-drawn character whose differences from and devotion to Pocahontas help move the story along. In addition to the well-known lore about her subject, Kudlinski fills this story with details about the hardships faced by the English and the Native Americans. The ineptitude of the English as they try to cope with the harsh, primitive conditions amazes Pocahontas and her people, but eventually they learn from each other. It is a difficult liaison with much killing on both sides. The English are characterized as intruders who try to take the land on which the Native Americans have been living for generations and to erase their rich culture. The book reads like an adventure, and it is amazing to learn of Pocahontas's accomplishments when she is so young. Helpful appendixes include sources, Web sites, and a list identifying Algonquin names. This is a fine selection for interdisciplinary study of early America to be read along with Jean Fritz's The Double Life of Pocahontas (Putnam, 1983).–Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 7-10. Drawing on legend and history, Kudlinski imagines the life of Pocahontas, daughter of the powerful Powhatan chief, at the time the whites settled Jamestown. Pocahontas falls in love with the white leader, warns him that her father plans to attack the colonists, and then is haunted by guilt at her betrayal of her people. Later, she marries a different white man, moves to England, converts to Christianity, is renamed Rebecca, and is celebrated as an exotic Indian princess until she dies. At times, the cultural detail almost overwhelms the story. However, by relating the tale through the viewpoint of fictional Neetah, a friend and servant who acts as a kind of alter ego to Pocahontas, Kudlinski brings close the sometimes fierce clash of white and Indian cultures as well as the diversity and richness of each. What is clear is that Pocahontas was not sweet or primitive; she was strong, brave, passionate, and troubled by conflict. Pair this with Elisa Carbone's Blood on the River (2006). Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Skyscape
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761452931
• ISBN 13: 9780761452935
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 273