Call Me the Canyon: A Novel - Softcover

Creel, Ann Howard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0976812649 ISBN 13: 9780976812647

Publisher: Brown Barn Books, 2006

Synopsis

Set in the old west of the 1880's, half-Navajo Madolen Demming leaves her gold-prospector father and her canyon at 15, craving freedom and a life beyond the canyon--that looms just out of her reach. In the end, in the world outside, Madolen finds she needs most of all the life style she once disdained, a way of life lost forever to the modern world. A moving triumphant story of a girl torn between two worlds.

About this title

About the Author

Ann Howard Creel is the author of four books for young adults, the most recent being UNDER A STAND STILL MOON. Her adult novel, THE MAGIC OF ORDINARY DAYS was presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame television production.

Reviews

Grade 9 Up–Fifteen-year-old Madolen, who is half Navajo, has been raised by her prospector father in Glen Canyon at the end of the 19th century. When a Mormon family offers to take her in and teach her to read, she jumps at the chance. Later she strikes out on her own and becomes the guide for a handsome archaeologist. At first he resists her advances, but sorrow over a tragedy brings them together. Their relationship is short-lived, however, and when Wallis returns to the East, she decides to stay in her beloved canyon. The story is told by Madolen, and her voice is much too sophisticated for her character as developed. This is especially true when she meets her love interest and her descriptions of him wax especially eloquent. Creel has carefully researched the teen's world, giving faithful descriptions of the history of the Mormons in the area, the mining attempts of Robert Stanton, and the condition of the Navajo nation during the period. However, the historical facts sometimes feel tacked on and interrupt the natural flow of the story. The book is recommended for those with special interest in Utah/Arizona history, but for others it is a secondary purchase.–Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT
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Edition details

• Publisher: Brown Barn Books
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0976812649
• ISBN 13: 9780976812647
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 205