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Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian posted a review of Ann Turner's Father of Lies. The book is about the Salem witch trials. In their review (dated Feb 24, 2011), they feature an excerpt from an author's note in the book:

The opinions about Native Americans expressed in this novel only reflect the historical record and not this author's beliefs. They are important to understanding this period. In Chapters Nineteen and Twenty-Seven, some of the responses in the witch trials are taken directly from the historical transcripts of the trials."

They go on to note what Turner's note refers to:

Truthfully, there is very little mention of Native Americans at all in the book, and it comes in the form of comments you would expect from the townspeople of that time - (from an 'afflicted' girl) "I vow the Devil was tall, dark, and wicked looking, like our enemies the Indians, with an evil heart inside." 

I have several thoughts on Turner's note.

Ann Turner wrote a book in Scholastic's Dear America series. Titled The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl, New Mexico, 1864, it was soundly critiqued by Beverly Slapin in A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children (by the way, A Broken Flute is a key resource and is now available in ebook from Googlebooks). In that book, Turner tried--and failed--to write from the perspective of a Dine (Navajo) child. She also failed in her attempt to write from the perspective of Sitting Bull in her book Sitting Bull Remembers. Slapin's review of Sitting Bull Remembers is here.

I wonder if those critiques prompted Turner to include the note pointing out the opinions her character expresses are from a historical transcript and not her own creation? Either way, I think it is useful to include the note. It points readers to historical documents, and that's a good thing to do. My copy of the book hasn't arrived yet, but when I get it, I'll say more about the documents. I hope she provides titles of them elsewhere in her note or in a bibliography. I'd like to read that transcript. I did a quick search using "the Devil was talk, dark, and wicked looking" and didn't find anything in


That said, it is important to point out that the note itself says that the opinions reflect "the historical record." In fact, there is more than one historical record. Turner is referring to the historical record of the white people in Salem Village in Massachusetts in 1692. Her note would be far better if she said she is referring to "a historical record." There were, of course, many Native villages all through that area. I doubt that they would liken themselves to the Puritan's Devil. Their historical record, in other words, is not the same as the one of the white people in Salem Village. 
At her website, Ann Turner has a page about her young adult books. There, she's got a "Coming in 2009" section that says:

--Father of Lies ---a novel set in the time of the Salem Witch Trials, but with a difference: the heroine has s [sic] disorder which gives her an eye of truth into the lies of the village; HarperCollins, Fall, 2009.

Turner tells us that in Father of Lies, she is doing something different. As she said on her website, her heroine has an eye for truth into the lies told by people in the village. I guess the heroine doesn't have an eye for the truth about Native people...  Or maybe we're to believe that all the people in the village believed Indians had evil hearts. I

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Written by Ann Turner
Illustrated by Wendell Minor
Harper Collins Publishers, 2007, ages 6-9, Biography
www.authortracker.com
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
www.minorart.com

This book was borrowed from the library for the purpose of reading/reviewing.

This is the story of Sitting Bull--told in his voice, a haunting reminiscing voice. He is thinking back to the life he'd had and his people had before, before the reservations. He tells the story of his people the Hunkpapa band of Sioux Nation. He was chosen as the war chief in 1869, he was chief of several Sioux bands that had united. Sitting Bull tells the story of the white men that destroyed the way of life for his people. He tells the story of The Battle of Little Bighorn and Custer.
This is a moving, emotional heart-wrenching book. It is told through Sitting Bulls voice-- his thoughts.
I felt this is a book that would need to be explained to a 6-9 year old, which is the age range that Harper Collins Publishers suggests. Most children of this age do not understand what happened to the Native American in the 1800's, they do not have a concept of a reservation, and they've probably never heard of The Battle of Little Bighorn. Yet, this is a must read, do not let explaining the book stop you from reading it to your child or children in a classroom, this can be an opportune time to have a discussion on Native American history.

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When Mr. Jefferson Came to Philadelphia: What I Learned of Freedom, 1776 by Ann Turner (Author), Mark Hess (Illustrator); HarperCollins 2003

Ages 4-8

"What did I know of freedom, of all the wild talk of independence that summer of 1776?"

Everyone knows about the Declaration of Independence, but how many people know that Thomas Jefferson wrote it by himself in only a few days? (There were four other men on the committee and, although they made suggestions and some revisions, Jefferson wrote it himself) Why would such a man, wealthy and born to an aristocratic family, risk all to fight for freedom for Britain? Turner tells a story, set in Philadelphia in 1776, of a boy named Ned who meets Thomas Jefferson who is staying in his mother's inn while debating the topic of freedom in Congress and writing the Declaration of Independence. Ned watches Jefferson as he gives speeches and writes the Declaration of Independence. In the meantime, Ned worries about his fears on war and the safety of his family. In the end, Ned, along with many others, takes Jefferson's words to heart.

The lifelike oil paintings by Hess transport you to 1776 and make you value what everyone is starting to talk about at that time- freedom.

Hop on over to Anastasia Suen's picture book of the day blog for the nonfiction Monday roundup!

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Iron Thunder: the battle between the Monitor & the Merrimac by Avi, C. B. Mordan, illustrator, Hyperion, 007

I have been interested in the Monitor and the Merrimac ever since I made a shoe box diorama depicting the battle in elementary school.

Avi has brought the Monitor's story to life in his new novel, Iron Thunder: the battle between the Monitor & the Merrimac. The book left me with a much greater understanding of the history of the two ships and the strategic role they played in the outcome of the American Civil War.

Tom Carroll has already lost of his father to the war. His income selling newspapers is not enough to help his struggling family so when he is given a chance to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard he takes the job. The pay may be minimal, seventy-five cents a week, but the work is steady.

He works for Captain John Ericsson who is designing the oddest boat Tom has ever seen, the ironclad Monitor. The reader is in no doubt that Tom is going to end up on the ship and he is there for the famous battle with the Merrimac.

Avi has woven lots of history and facts into the story. The book design includes actual diagrams, period photographs, artifacts, newspaper illustrations and broadsheets that summarize the latest war news throughout the story.

Tom's story is illustrated in black and white images that evoke the engraved style of newspapers of the time. An author's note brings the story of the Monitor up to date with the discovery of the wreckage in 1973 and the USS Monitor Center and website. A glossary and bibliography are also included.

This book is the first of a new "I Witness" series which initially brought the "Dear America" et al. series to mind but this story does not exude the dreary melancholy that permeates so many of those books. This is a vivid retelling of a battle that was as pivotal as Gettysburg in the final outcome of the war.



Duel of the Ironclads: The Monitor vs. the Virginia by Patrick O'Brien, Walker, 2003
Patrick O'Brien's maritime paintings lend color to the story for those who want to pair the novel with a nonfiction read.

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