Comanche Song - Hardcover

Shefelman, Janice; Shelfman, Janice

3.5

8 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1571683976 ISBN 13: 9781571683977

Publisher: Eakin Pr, 2000

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A young Comanche boy experiences his tribe's conflicts with the Tejanos in 1840s Texas.

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From the Publisher:

Comanche Song is on the 2001 list for Best Books for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8-Likable and believable, 16-year-old Tsena, son of a Comanche peace chief, finds himself at the center of two violent confrontations with the tejanos in the Republic of Texas in 1840. Though his father counsels peaceful relations with the new arrivals, the other chiefs oppose his recommendations. At a council with the Texans concerning an exchange of captives, violence erupts, and several chiefs are killed, including Tsena's father. The remaining Comanches, mostly women and children, are taken hostage. Thus begins the protagonist's close contact with the tejanos and the deepening of his understanding that both sides have committed wrongs. As events lead to the Battle of Plum Creek, Shefelman capably juggles the political struggles within the Comanche bands, a burgeoning romance between Tsena and the granddaughter of another chief, the teen's rivalry with his half-brother, and numerous aspects of daily life and thought among the Comanches. The casual cruelty of which both cultures were guilty is noted, and the author's treatment is balanced. There are minor infelicities-the attempt to create some semblance of the speech and thought of another time and people seems at times like movie-speak; and Tsena's father and grandfather are almost flawless characters. Still, this novel is a solid achievement-involving, swiftly moving, fair-minded. The only significant drawback is the jacket painting in which Tsena looks closer to 10 than 16, which may deter older readers.
Coop Renner, Moreno Elementary School, El Paso, TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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