13 year old Baron is a small for his age new kid at school. Both his parents are military personnel-- his father is MIA and his mother is active duty in Iraq, so Baron lives with his grandmother. Already a bully magnet, Baron keeps his Native American heritage to himself, until the class takes a school trip to an outward bound type camp in the Adirondacks. There he must call on his knowledge of Mohawk legends to help save his classmates from the Bearwalker.
I love Joseph Bruchac, but i was so disappointed in this story. It reads like a reluctant reader--not like the work of a master storyteller, and the storyline was so cliché-- i actually cringed when i read it. The professional reviewers gave it great reviews-- and school library journal called it a work for teens- 7 grade +-- and based on that-plus the fact that it is written by the a literary lion like Bruchac, i put it on the middle school myths and legends summer reading list. But i had not read it, and now i am so sorry. i would still recommend it to certain kids-- boy reluctant readers, or, even more likely-- younger boys who read well above level-- but that is about it.
disappointed overall-- will try Skeleton Man instead.
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