"An attack from an enemy was something that his people understood. In the old days, they had known who the enemy was. Even when his people fought the white men, those wars had had rules. But now it was as if there were no rules about anything. How could people live if the enemies were invisible? If they shot people for no reason at all? How can people deal with a world like that?" (p. 99).
SUMMARY
Jake Forrest is a young Iroquois teenager with a passion for lacrosse. Jake is forced to leave the Iroquois reservation when his mom is offered a job in the city. Fortunately for Jake, because of his talented lacrosse skills, he is accepted into a top-notch boarding school in Washington D.C.. However, it doesn't take Jake long to realize his new team doesn't know anything about the history of his tribal sport, nor do they care to learn the traditional cultural aspects of lacrosse. Soon tragic strikes the school, and Jake must make a life changing decision. Should he escape heartache and return to his people on the reservation, or should he face the warrior within and help his teammates cope with the tragedy through the sport they all love?
MY REACTIONS
I have mixed emotions about this novel. I appreciated Bruchac's attempt at making Native American contributions to society current and relevant for our young adult readers, but I felt the novel lacked depth. I would have liked to have seen more scenes focused on Jake's lacrosse games. I feel this would have shown the reader his passion instead of just stating it. Also, this is a novel you could suggest to young readers who are passionate about sports, and because there are very few scenes that explore the actual sport, it may turn the reader away.
I did enjoy the fact Jake's character and his actions throughout the story had the ability to transform our thinking; helping us to understand the cultural dissonance many Native Americans feel in society today. In addition, Jake's boarding school classmates and lacrosse teammates treated him and refered to him in ways offensive to Jake, but perhaps oblivious to the outside party. For instance, they often refer to Jake as "Chief". These would be wonderful teaching opportunities to explore in the classroom and help with student awareness of such offensive labels.
IDEAS TO EXPLORE WITH THIS NOVEL
- Students can check out the following links to explore traditional lacrosse sporting rules vs. mainstream adaptations to the sport. This would provide a wonderful opportunity for students to compare and contrast the two.
Lacrosse: An Iroquois Tradition
- Students can write a personal narrative about a time when they endured a noble pursuit. What reasons did they have for taking this on? How did their actions change their outlook and the outlook of those involved?
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