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The star rating system does not allow for a book that was good but that I did not want to continue reading.
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Aleutian Sparrow
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In June 1942, seven months after attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy invaded Alaska's Aleutian Islands. For nine thousand years the Aleut people had lived and thrived on these treeless, windswept lands. Within days of the first attack, the entire native population living west of Unimak Island was gathered up and evacuated to relocation centers in the dense forests of Alaska's Southeast.
With resilience, compassion, and humor, the Aleuts responded to the sorrows of upheaval and dislocation. This is the story of Vera, a young Aleut caught up in the turmoil of war. It chronicles her struggles to survive and to keep community and heritage intact despite harsh conditions in an alien environment.
With resilience, compassion, and humor, the Aleuts responded to the sorrows of upheaval and dislocation. This is the story of Vera, a young Aleut caught up in the turmoil of war. It chronicles her struggles to survive and to keep community and heritage intact despite harsh conditions in an alien environment.
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 1,2003
This edition
- Format
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160 pages, Paperback
- Published
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June 1, 2005 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
- ISBN
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9781416903277
- ASIN
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1416903275
- Language
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English
About the author
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Karen Hesse is an American author known for her children's and young adult literature, often set in historical contexts. She received the Newbery Medal for Out of the Dust (1997), a verse novel about a young girl enduring the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Hesse's works frequently tackle complex themes, as seen in Witness (2001), which explores the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in a 1920s Vermont town, and The Music of Dolphins (1996), which tells the story of a girl raised by dolphins. Her novel Stowaway (2000) is based on the real-life account of a boy aboard Captain Cook's Endeavour. Over her career, Hesse has received numerous accolades, including a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002 and the Phoenix Award for Letters from Rifka (1992).
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Community Reviews
Rating(4.2 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
49(49%)
4 stars
25(25%)
3 stars
26(26%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
100 reviews All reviews
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This novel in verse revealed a part of American history during World War II that I hadn't known about.
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The story in this book was worth telling, but the way it was written was very boring and oftentimes hard to understand
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A good history lesson. I never knew that during WWII, the U.S. evacuated people from the Aleutian Islands to protect them from Japanese invaders. Sounds like a good thing...to protect people...but what the U.S. did was treat them worse than animals and destroy their culture.
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I think this book was interesting because it was about the
Japanese. Also it was because they went to Alaska as again
a refugee. She got evacuated because of all of the war that
was happening. So this book was also interesting because
they were at a city in Japan. Also this book was very interesting
because it felt like it was real because that actually happened in
real life they brought over refugees to where ever it was safe. So
it was a really good book.
Japanese. Also it was because they went to Alaska as again
a refugee. She got evacuated because of all of the war that
was happening. So this book was also interesting because
they were at a city in Japan. Also this book was very interesting
because it felt like it was real because that actually happened in
real life they brought over refugees to where ever it was safe. So
it was a really good book.
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This is a WWII story told by a young girl about the Aleutian tribe and their relocation. The story depicts the struggle of the tribe as they try to keep their heritage and community in unfamiliar environments.
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Close to the trudging end. Not sure I'll persevere. Good idea, just not compelling enough writing.
Update... very disappointing. Too light and not much there after so many pages. :(
Update... very disappointing. Too light and not much there after so many pages. :(
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This is a very short but very important book. It's written almost in poem form. While it's fiction, it's based on the true events of the Japanese attack on Alaska's Aleutian Islands, that resulted in the evacuation of the Aleut people from their native villages. The Japanese were accustomed to fishing off the Aleutians and were friendly with the Aleuts and therefore familiar with the islands prior to their attack in June of 1942. I feel sad after reading this book. I'm sure being an Alaskan born and raised, that I must have learned of the Japanese attack in one of my Alaskan history classes ,but I don't recall it. The evacuation of Aleuts was cultural homicide. One in every four Aleuts died from pneumonia, whooping cough, TB, measles or mumps due to being forced to live in cabins they built themselves that were always damp (the Aleutians don't have trees) While German prisoners of war in Alaska were kept warm and dry in heated bunkers with plenty of food in their bellies, our Native American citizens were left to fend for themselves and told to get jobs. After May of 1945 when the Aleuts were told they could return home, some villages were never inhabited again as there weren't enough survivors; and, the white American soldiers destroyed all their property and possessions - and stole what they didn't destroy. To this day the US militaries rusted equipment still litters the islands. A sad page in American history, in Native American history, and in Alaska's history.
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