Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims

Bland, sanitized historical dramatization where the protagonist has to speak in stereotypical broken English because he's Native American, this despite years living amongst English speakers and being portrayed as an interpreter.

Whenever I hear people complain about history being erased nowadays, I always think of whitewashed history like this that has prevailed for centuries. Squanto is basically erased even in a book that's ostensibly about him, reducing him to his value to the white guys around him or making his fate dependent on the good graces of a series of white saviors.

This one's a kids' biography of Squanto, the Patuxet man who supposedly helped the Pilgrims learn to survive in the wilds of North America. It's an interesting tale, but I was left wondering just how accurate it was. After years of living amongst Englishmen, Squanto is still talking in broken English. One would think that he would have at least learned the verb "to be" in that time. Anyway, maybe this is a faithful recounting of Squanto's life, or maybe it's not. I don't have the knowledge to truly judge it. I do know, however, that it wasn't enjoyable enough to rate higher than waiting room material.
--J.

In my opinion, this is a great historical fiction book about an Indian who befriends the English Pilgrims after a long journey. The big idea of the story is the significance of bridging the cultural gap between two different types of people, and working together to create peace and happiness. One reason why I liked this book is because it pushes readers to think about tough issues and broaden their perspectives. Because this is a historical fiction book that dates back to the early 1620s, it forces readers to think about issues that wouldn’t happen nowadays. For instance, slavery was an issue in which Squanto was sold in Spain. Therefore, I like how this book teaches readers about the history of the Native Americans and makes them show more think about the horror of these real issues that occurred in history. I also really liked that the characters in the story are well-developed and realistic, which adds to the authenticity of this fictitious book. For instance, Squanto is described as an “old man with deep lines in his face. His long gray hair was tied so that it hung down his back like a foxtail,” (9). The reader not only learns about Squanto’s appearance but also that he speaks another language from the English and lives in a village, which is explained in the story. These details all enhanced the character, which gave me a clear vision of Squanto and all aspects of his life, which I really liked. show less

First this was more of a back story...leading up to "friend of the pilgrims."

It is definitely NOT nonfiction. At one point V asked, "how do they know what he was thinking?"

I read this after she talked about the pilgrims and Squanto in school, hoping to get a bit more in depth. For a K-1 grade level this was good. I was impressed they mentioned anything about slavery.

The characters were extremely wooden (even more than a typical young reader book.)

I didn't know that much about Squanto and was glad to learn more, though I take the facts in the book with a grain of salt.

Squanto, a Wampanoag Indian, goes to London with some of the first English explorers, is sold into slavery in Spain, and finally returns to America where he befriends the Pilgrims when they land.

This is a great historical non fiction book about a indian named Squanto that becomes friends with the english in order to work together to create happy and more peaceful lives. I like this book because it shows how people worked together and made deals in the past the same as they do now. This book would be a great read for fifth graders.

the book to me was a good book about the history of this country I like how the book tell you of the struggles of the indian man and woman of that time I also like how the book tells how the indian people where looked at by those oppressors in that time era