Product Description

The year is 1812. A white trapper is murdered. And a young Chippewa Indian stands accused.

Captured and shackled in leg irons and chains, Indian John awaits his trial in a settler’s loft. In a world of crude frontier justice where evidence is often overlooked in favor of vengeance, he struggles to make sense of the white man’s court. His young lawyer faces the wrath of a settlement hungry to see the Indian hang. And 13-year-old Rebecca Carver, terrified by the captive Indian right in her home, must decide for herself what—and who—is right. At stake is a life. Inspired by a true story, Crooked River takes a probing look at prejudice and early American justice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #987666 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-09
• Released on: 2005-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 5-8–Pearsall quickly engages readers with her captivating tale of fear, ignorance, and bravery on the Ohio frontier. The year is 1812 and 13-year-old Rebecca Carver is driven hard to help her older sister, Laura, make up for the loss of their mother. Terrified of their abusive and violent-tempered father, the girls care for the family silently and dutifully until a prisoner, an Indian who is accused of murder, is chained in their loft. Although surrounded by a family and town overflowing with an unabashed hatred of Indians, Rebecca slowly begins to believe in Amik's innocence and defies her Pa, her family, and her settlement in order to see justice done. The unique sharing of narration between Rebecca and Amik further opens the mind to the injustices and inhumanity suffered by this country's Native people. Packed with believable characters wrapped in a thoroughly researched plot, Crooked River is a must-read for fans of historical fiction and would aptly serve as a discussion-rich tool for American studies.–Kimberly Monaghan, formerly at Vernon Area Public Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. Thirteen-year-old Rebecca Carver gets a front-row seat on frontier justice in Pearsall's second historical novel. She and her older sisters return to their 1812 Ohio home and find, in addition to many chores, a Native American chained upstairs. Her father, a widowed farmer, is keeping "Indian John" there to await trial for killing a trapper. Rebecca is the primary narrator here, but the Indian, whose Ojibwe name is Amik, is given a voice through a scattering of spare story-poems. His is a gentle soul, and Rebecca, who is routinely ignored or mistreated by her father, soon finds sympathy for him. Before long, a young lawyer turns up to defend Amik, telling Rebecca about the kindness Amik's family had shown years before. The scenes leading up to the trial are compelling, if not surprising, and Pearsall wonderfully captures the language of the time as well as Rebecca's growing awareness for what passes for truth and justice in her community. Pearsall concludes with notes on the historical underpinnings of her story and a helpful bibliography. Abby Nolan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Humanity and justice don’t always join hands as 13-year-old Rebecca Carver painfully discovers; especially when it’s 1812 in a small frontier settlement and a young Chippewa Indian is being held captive for the crime of murdering a white trapper. When her ironhanded Pa chains the “savage” in their loft until his trial, an unspoken bond slowly forms that defies prejudice and incites courage as Indian John and Reb sneak small trinkets to each other. The tandem telling in Reb and Indian John’s voices creates an immediacy of the times when red and white cultures clashed and human convictions could decide a conviction of death. As the trial begins, a young, inexperienced lawyer, a childhood friend of Indian John who’s sweet on Reb’s older sister, tries logic to preclude the hanging. This vivid look into the reality of crude frontier life and justice is outstanding historical fiction. Based on a true story, O’Dell winner Pearsall documents her painstaking research. As Reb tries to sustain a life, Pearsall brings a snapshot of history to life. (bibliography) (Historial fiction. 9-13) -- Kirkus Reviews, starred.

Customer Reviews

rocking book
Crooked River by Shelley Pearsall is a Historical fiction book based on a true story. It takes place in Ohio in 1812.This book is about a girl named Rebecca who along with her sister Laura experienced the hard, happy and sad times w/ a Chippewa Indian John, Her dad had crossed the Crooked River and brought the Indian back accused of murdering a white man. At the same time Rebecca is helping Laura to take her dead mom's position in the family. During the first days Indian John was in the same house as both girls Rebecca and her sister could not sleep without thinking that Indian john would escape from the attic and kill all of them. As time passed Rebecca slowly began to believe in Indian John's innocence. She felt that horrible things would happen if he really was guilty. Finally the trial came. Was Indian John guilty? Will anybody try to help him? Will he die? Shelley Pearsall is an author that makes you wonder and adds a little bit of mystery to her book. So if you like mysterious and suspenseful endings read Crooked River and find out the mystery behind Indian John's trial.

A Clash of Cultures
Shelley Pearsall has written an important work of historical fiction exploring the clash of two cultures and how assumptions about our enemies often prevent us from seeing our common humanity.

Set in 1812, the bulk of the story is related in a straight-forward narrative from the "white man's" view as each day two sisters, Rebecca and Laura Carver, climb the stairs to their cabin's attic to bring food to a Chippewa accused of murding a trapper. Interspersed between chapters are the Chippewa's point of view related as poetic interludes.

Using these different points of view, Pearsall is able to suggest that each character occupies a position outside the other's consciousness... as if poetry and prose represent two different worlds... simultaneously revealing not only the differences between each culture's values and perspective but the common ground that each culture shares.

Gradually, Rebecca comes to see these two worlds, not as separate, but as sharing a common humanity. Trusting her sense of justice, she is willing to act to save the Chippewa, even though it means going against her strong-willed father's beliefs and her own culture's code of conduct.

In the end, Pearsall shows us how two very different views of the world can co-exist, even when the occupants of each world are unaware of their connection.

An enormously penetrating tale shedding light on an often overlooked aspect of American history.

Cry me a river
About halfway through a thorough reading of this book, a question popped into my brain. How many well-known children's books center on an important court case? There must be dozens, right? I mean, a courtroom is a perfect setting for drama. Just ask the audience of "Law and Order". Children's books, similarly, thrive on heightened emotions. Hence, there must be lots of children's fiction out there employing judges, juries, and gavel poundings right? Maybe so, but I was hard pressed to think of a one. The closest story I came up with was Harper Lee's, "To Kill a Mockingbird" and calling that a children's book is bound to offend all sorts of people everywhere. No, at this time I think that "Crooked River" is probably the only children's book I've personally read where the courtroom becomes the center of one young girl's life. I just wish I could figure out whether I liked it or not.

It's 1812 and Rebecca Carver has just learned that there's a manacled Chippewa in her attic. Needless to say, the news comes as quite a shock. Till now Reb has lived a pretty downtrodden life. She has an overbearing father, a series of spoiled or ignorant male relatives, and just her older and younger sisters for comfort. Finding an Indian in her attic has done little to improve her life. It seems that her father and some men in the village decided to go out and find the Chippewa that killed a white trapper some miles out of town. They proclaim Indian John (as they have dubbed him) to be the murderer, leaving Carver's daughters to fear for their lives as they sleep in their beds. In time, however, Reb learns that the man chained in the attic may not be the kind of man her fellows have always taught her to fear. A red-haired lawyer named Peter Kelley has known Amik, the prisoner, since childhood and believes fully in his innocence. It will take a trial to prove to Reb just what kind of influence that she, a mere thirteen-year-old slip of a girl, can have over events beyond her control.

Judging the portrayal of a Native American in a children's book is a monumentally difficult task. Often in cases like this one I turn to the Oyate organization (a Native American group charged with determining how popular culture depicts them) to see what their reactions to any given book are. In this particular case, however, "Crooked River" is too new for much outside critiquing. The book itself is broken into two narratives. In one, Rebecca talks about her changing perceptions and disillusionment with the people around her. In the other is Amik's voice. His words are in a different font and are written in a kind of free verse. At the beginning of the book, these words are rather beautiful. "it is the time when the leaves / are small on the trees. / too small / for hiding". But I had a very difficult time deciding whether or not Amik's mode of speech was a creative answer to giving his character a distinct personality and way of seeing the world or if it was an offensive stereotype too often done. He does, after all, revert back to those old clichés of wondering why the whites around him are seemingly deaf and dumb to the smells and sounds around them. It's a moment we've seen in countless books and films. On the other hand, the verse is often rather touching and quite interesting. I'm torn both ways.

The book itself is more than readable. At first it seems reliant on two-dimensional characters. Rebecca is good and therefore she pities the Indian. Her father is bad and therefore loathes Amik. It takes a while to realize but Rebecca's older sister Laura is one of the exceptions to this rule. In her case you have someone good who fears and dislikes Amik and has a hard time overcoming her own prejudices. Amos, Rebecca's older brother, is the same way. Pearsall's writing deftly plays with their thoughts on the matter while making it perfectly clear that early U.S. settlers weren't exactly the saintly explorers so lauded in American stories and songs.

A book can be beautifully written, penned with aplomb, and smart as a whip yet not quite touch the reader. Personally, "Crooked River" was not one of my favorite books of the year. This is not to say that it isn't a worthwhile piece of writing. I simply couldn't get a grip on the character of Amik and all that he was meant to represent. For others, their reactions will be different. Some people will adore this book. Some will despise it. I feel neither of these emotions myself. I simply recommend that you read it on your own time and come to your own conclusions about it. If Amazon.com is good for nothing else, it helps us to proclaim to the masses how much we love or hate a title. I will be eagerly reading all the other responses, "Crooked River" engenders.