Morning Girl

Simply told experience of life in a warm island climate, where food is freely available but storms can wipe out a village. That is actually a good reason to develp a culture in which people do not store up resources, and practice sharing. The two children identify with their names, recognize how their energy and behaviors reflect their morning and night names. They learn to act respectfully. A storm blows thru, scattering a favorite shell or toy, fearful hiding to avoid being washed out to sea, and leading to a night under the stars before meeting up with neighbors.
I assumed it was based in the Pacific, perhaps Hawaii, but the final explanation indicates the arrival of Europeans a/k/a Christopher Columbus' ship, and the lack of show more communication awareness shown by the Europeans to the welcome of the indigenous population. show less

Published in 1992, but I'd never read it until I came across it in our school library. It was a sweet, simple, slender story about natives on an island—until I got to the epilogue. That last page and a half put everything into perspective.

The setting in the Bahamian island where Columbus landed in 1492. We are with one family of the people who live on that island, with alternating chapters narrated by Morning Girl, and her younger brother, Star Boy. Though the two children have distinct personalities, they do not have different voices in writing, which was a downside. Each short chapter is a small story in the life of the children and their parents. At the end of the book, the last section is a letter from Christopher Columbus, speaking of how easily these people on this island will be converted to Christianity and made useful servants (i.e. slaves).

For most of the book, I found it a little dull, but the ending, knowing what we know today of the results of Columbus' show more intrusion into the Americas, made this little book more meaningful, albeit in a sad and tragic way. show less

I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did. It is a fairly short chapter book (just 74 pages) so wasn't expecting much in the way of a story line. The story is written from two perspectives, a brother and a sister who live on an island with their parents and the rest of their tribe. The story starts out from the sister's perspective and every other chapter is written from the brother's perspective; however, their perspectives weave together to create on story. As the story progresses, you witness typical sibling rivalry and irritation but witness their love for each other as well. At the very end of the story, you discover that the siblings are living on the island in 1492 and that they are on the island that Christopher show more Columbus lands on when he finds the "New World". show less

This book tells the tale of a Taino brother and sister and their opposition towards one another in many ways. The biggest opposition being that she loves to wake before the morning begins while he prefers to live out his time in the dark of night. This book offers a look into a family living before Europeans arrived in America. While going back and forth between the sisters' and brothers' stories this book paints a picture of sibling frustrations and tensions. This tension is very relatable for many readers and creates a connection to the characters who are very different from modern day children.

Morning Girl is a story about an indiginous family that lives on an island in 1492. The chapters alternate narraters between two siblings, Morning Girl and Star Boy. It tells the struggles of sibling love and finding your place in your family. Morning girl has short easy to read chapters. This book would be a great introduction to historical fiction for elementary students. They will be able to relate with the characters feelings about their sibling even in this modern time.

Set in 1492, Morning Girl and Star boy alternately narrate snippets of their lives. The Taino siblings are vastly different from each other, almost living in seperate worlds-- day and night. Beautiful story about a family and Taino culture right before European contact.