by Tanya Landman. Walker Books, 2007.
This is the story of a young orphan girl driven to avenge the death of her young brother in a Mexican ambush. As a consequence she turns aside from her expected role of dutiful wife and mother, and instead takes the challenging route to become a Black Mountain Apache warrior.
While this is a work of fiction, it is an accurate portrayal of Apache life and values, and the training undergone by young warriors is vivid and well-researched.
The inexorable march of the ‘White-eyes’ across ancient tribal territories in the latter part of the 19th century is well documented and resonates with current situations in our modern world.
“Apache – girl warrior’ is a gripping, and at times harrowing read.
reviewed by Jan
Friday, 9 May 2008
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10 comments:
I am almost at the end of Apache-girl warrior and I don't want it to end. I have been magically transported to the Black Mountain Apache camp where I hurt, love and serve as the Apache hurt, love and serve. Tanya Landman is a genuius of the written word, making the reader drink in every word. Her descriptive writing is brilliant, encouraging me to read on and on following the journey of the tribe to its, as yet, unknown conclusion. I want to be as strong and brave and intuitive as Siki, who is a credit to her sex and her race. She is a true hero. Well done Tanya Landman. This novel is fiction but so educational, enabling the reader to know the ways of the Apache and recognise the selfishness and greed of the White Eyes and Mexicans. It deserves to win the Carnegie Medal 2008, which I am shadowing. Excellent!!!!!!!
I also have just finished reading Apache. My one word description of the book is "brilliant!" The entire story was one that literally propelled the reader along with it and the compulsion to keep reading (just to see what happens in the next bit) was consistently present. I was impressed with and appreciative of Landman's obviously thorough research and the integrity with which she portrayed the three cultures woven into the story. The reader easily forms an empathetic connection with the Apache people and the manner in which Landman re-creates their society, mores and interactions feels completely genuine. I felt this was an important contribution to historical fiction that could easily find a place in secondary school English or Social Studies classes.
I've just read Apache-girl warrior and i really enjoyed it.
Some pupils at the school which i attend are shadowing the Carnegie award thing, me involved...
Its where a group of furious readers read seven books in a space of about one month.
I wasn't expecting much and i was happily surprised when i found out that the book i was reading was a fantastic book.
How do you know its accurate? I study children's books about American Indians, and while I don't yet have a copy of the book, what I've seen so far suggests it is romanticized and inaccurate. Visit my blog:
americanindiansinchildrensbooks.info
Debbie
In answer to Debbie's criticism of a book she hasn't actually read...
( I expect more from an assistant professor ).
I read the book recently and found it fascinating and very sad - not romantic, it describes the end of a culture. Like other commentors I found myself alongside Siki and felt I had gained some understanding of how the Apache may have lived pre 'white-eyes'.
I was so curious that I bought an old copy of 'Indeh' by Eve Ball who Tanya Landman cites as a source or reference. Tanya openly acknowledges that she took storylines from remembered accounts recorded by Eve Ball in the 1940s from her years listening to Apache survivors. So I think the book may be closer to fact than fiction.
Based on years of studying books about American Indians, Dan, the sad reality is that most of them are inaccurate and biased. You expect someone with expertise to be able to make observations based on that expertise, and that is what I did.
My initial thoughts on Landman's book were borne out by my subsequent study of the book. I've written about it several times now on my site:
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-on-tanya-landmans-apache-girl.html
Landman's book could be used in a social studies or English class, but only as a lesson in the pitfalls of outsider perspective. Yes, Landman did research for the project, and certainly, she had good intentions in writing the story, but!!! There's so much wrong with it. Please do visit my site and consider what I've said there. I was just in Tucson, talked with Apache people there, and they did not like the book. If Apache people think poorly of it, perhaps everyone should reconsider their evaluation...
The book was never supposed to be non-fiction - it was a made up story based on some actual truth and events, and some imagination. Even if the book isn't accurate, its still an insight into how Apache may have once lived, inspiring people to learn more about them.
I found this book and story so amazing I cried at the end of it when she said "But first I will live, and I will fight. For I am a warrior. I am Apache". And the girl on the cover "Hatti Tom" reminds of what siki would look like if she was real. I just read "Apache, girl warrior" just because i was interested in it, but then in school for english we got a research assignment with a theme of "freedom" and i chose this book as one of my sources, hopefully i get excellence. i reccemend this to anybody. The Apache people are totally amazing, defending their land their mother nature and their lost family. I wish i was there to witness it all!
Right, Firstly I think this book is one of the best fictionally historical books I have ever read, it rivals the best such as Jack Higgins! Secondly, I must admitt I did not read this book out of choice, i merely was assigned it for an english project on foreign cultures. When researching the background to this book, I found myself writing pages of interesting facts and arguments about all different matters concerning the American Indian, Mexican, Dutch and American. I have furthered my knowledge on subjects such as the Conquistadors, the pilgrims and apache beliefs and generally enjoyed my time reading/studying this book. However I am in desperate need of help! Does anyone actually know if any of the battles/conflicts mentioned in the book are in fact true or Historically accurate and if so where were they/when were they/what were they called? I have had absolutely no luck in researching about the slaughter of Mexicans in a church or any other battles. By the slim chance that anyone of knowledge on this subect should pass by this website and see this in the next two weeks then please email me at cdmaher@hotmail.co.uk
Very enjoyable book!
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