The Stout-Hearted Seven by Neta Lohnes Frazier
by Sam Arnold-Boyd on Aug.10, 2008, under Adult Read, Adventure, Battle of the Books 2008-2009, Grief, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Fiction, Sam's Reviews
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Who would like this book? Do you have relatives who came to Oregon via the Oregon Trail? Are you curious about what life was like for these pioneers? Are you interested in the conflict between the Native Americans and the new white settlers? You’ll want to read this book.
Why? The Stout-Hearted Seven tells the story of the Sager family, who leave Missouri in the spring of 1844 with the hope that a good life awaits them in the Willamette Valley. It’s amazing to read a story such as this one and realize that these people went through unbelievable hardship to get to the land where we now live. Ms. Frazier did lots of research to gain the perspective of the eldest Sager daughter, Catherine. She writes with a sense of fairness, balancing the family’s good and bad times. The excruciating and tragic situation with the Native Americans (referred to as either Indians or by their specific tribes) starts out in the background, but is thrust to the foreground dramatically. Frazier gives a fair but limited context for the tragic events in the last part of the story. There are a number of unfortunate typographical errors throughout the text, but they are minor. This selection for the 08-09 Battle of the Books is an excellent telling of a riveting pioneer story.
The details: 193 p. 1973 (reprinted 2006)
