Well-written telling of the true story of a white girl captured by Native Americans. Lenski is sympathetic to the girl, but also doesn't demonize the Natives. I reread this many times growing up. ( )

Mary Jemison is pulled away from her family and adopted by a tribe of Seneca Native Americans. She rebells against her captivity and dreams for years of returning to her family. She slowly begins to make friends among the tribe and to think of them as her family, and when she finds out that her original family is long dead, she feels like she has no choice. Later, however, a choice is offered to her to be raised as a white girl and return to the ways of her childhood, or to stay with the new family she has come to care for. ( )

This story is a fictionalized account of Mary Jemison, who was kidnapped and then adopted into the Seneca tribe in Ohio in the mid 1700s. The story paints a picture of her childhood with the tribe. Mary or Corn Tassel, is described and fleshed out in great detail. The author helps children understand the characters/time setting by using things such as clothing and good. A change in cutlure can be seen through the change in clothing and food, from a blue jean dress to buckskin clothing and corn prone to corn cakes. The plot is believable, Corn Tassel reacts as a period child would when faced with this situation. The book is based on true accounts of children that were kidnapped (including Mary Jemison). The theme reflects Mary's changing attitude toward her captors and how she starts to become family, as a replacement for a dead son. Many historical fiction books for children do not portray Native Americans in a good light, but Lenski seems to try to stay away from the trend. She shows that there are good and bad people among them, just as there are among "Englishmen". I feel that this is a good historical fiction book for a older elementary school student. ( )

Lois Lenski was one of my favorite authors when I was a child. At our neighborhood reading group when a teacher recommended this book as a good one for readers of all ages, I felt like I'd just run into an old friend after a long absence. Mary Jemison, the sole survivor of her family, was adopted by Seneca Indians and treated as a tribe and family member . Her story is compelling, and less fictionaized accounts of her life can be found on the internet (Google Mary Jemison), including a book written in 1824 from interviews with her when she was in her 80s. . ( )

Author and illustrator Lois Lenski has been a favorite of mine since my grade school years long ago. She wrote and illustrated many charming picture books in the early 1940s that featured the Small Family, most of which are still in print. She illustrated the beloved Betsy-Tacy series as well as the 1946 Newbery Award winner Strawberry Girl, that she also wrote.

When I recently came across a paperback edition of her 1941 children's book, Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison I was torn between my desire to read yet another book by a favorite children's author and my fear that the depiction of the Seneca Indians would be stereotypical and inaccurate. The illustration on the book's cover, 1995 cover art by Joanie Schwartz, depicting a young girl looking more like a Seventeen Magazine model than a frontier youngster/Indian captive, didn't help.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in this wonderful book, Lois Lenski has outdone herself in her illustrations, her story telling, and her research into her subject. A Newbery Honor book in 1942, it tells the true story of a young frontier girl who lived in a tiny settlement near what is current day Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Set during the French and Indian War, it is the fictionalized version of the Life of Mary Jemison, who in 1758 at the age of 15 was abducted by the Shawnee Indians along with her parents, two sisters, two younger brothers and a neighbor family. After a grueling forced march to Fort Duquesne, current day Pittsburg, Mary's family is killed and she is sold to two sisters of the Seneca tribe and adopted into the Seneca tribe as one of their own. It was the way of the Seneca to take captives to fill the places of their own loved ones who had been killed by enemies. The details of their practices are not sugar-coated, neither are they exaggerated.

Ms. Lenski really did her homework in preparing for this book and has faithfully captured in her art and words the lifestyle of the Seneca and of the larger Hodenosaunee or Iroquois Confederation. She has told the moving story of Mary Jemison with sympathy and yet she has not mired us down in tragedy but has helped us see the strength and beauty that came into Mary's life as she adjusted to her new family. Lenski's illustrations are primitive folk style art, in black and white, rich with detail and evocative.

The real life Mary Jemison stayed with her adopted family, living as a true Seneca until the end of her days at 91. Ms. Lenski spoke with descendants of Mary who still reside on reservations in New York and Ontario. She faithfully researched museums and historical libraries and leads us into the daily routine of the Senecas. Sharing myths and folk stories, accurate drawings of implements, utensils, garments, and ceremony, she captures the Indian way of looking at things and conveys nuances of attitude and philosophy with honesty and clarity.

Intended for the 9-12 year old readership, the story flows with simplicity, but is exciting and interesting enough for older readers as well. Living in Oneida country as I do, I was glad to have such an abundance of information on the Seneca who along with the Oneidas, the Cayugas, the Mohawks and the Onondagas, the tribes of the Hodenosaunee, were a part of the first Democracy to ever flourish upon this land, hundreds of years before white men ever set foot here.

Mary became known as The Two Falling Voices and her story is both tragic and triumphant. I found it very enriching, emotionally and intellectually stimulating, even as a children's book, so vividly is the tale conveyed.

Several non-fictional accounts have been published of the life of Mary Jemison, including one that she dictated to a doctor when she was in her 80s. This book serves as a wonderful introduction to her life's story and also to the stories of other white captives whose little known tales give us splendid insight into the frontier hardships of everyday people and of the indigenous people who struggled to maintain their own ways of life.

I recommend this book to any young reader who wishes to push beyond the confines of a text book into the hearts and minds of history. There is enough here, also, to intrigue most adults with a mind to go beyond the stereotypes. ( )