The Sign of the Beaver
A Newbery Honor Award Winner
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · August 2, 2011
In this Newbery Honor Book, a thirteen-year-old boy struggles to survive on his own in the wilderness of eighteenth-century Maine.
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- Who it’s for
- A wilderness survival story opens onto questions of whose home the frontier was.
- Themes
- Wilderness survival, Native and settler relations, Changing frontier
- Genres
- Colonial & Revolutionary U.S., Survival Stories, US: Native American Stories
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Start with this bookAbout this book
In this Newbery Honor Book, a thirteen-year-old boy struggles to survive on his own in the wilderness of eighteenth-century Maine. When Matt's father leaves him on his own to guard their new cabin in the wilderness, Matt is scared but determined to be brave and prove that he can take care of himself. And things are going fine until a white stranger steals his gun, leaving Matt defenseless and unable to hunt for his food.
Continue reading
Then Matt meets Attean, a Native boy from the Beaver tribe, and soon learns that people called the land around him home long before the white settlers ever arrived. As Attean teaches him more about his own culture, Matt must come to terms with what the changing frontier really means. Now with an introduction by critically acclaimed writer Joseph Bruchac about the historical context and the relationships between Native peoples and white settlers in the eighteenth century.
Frontier, Reconsidered
A wilderness survival story opens onto questions of whose home the frontier was.
Come here for
- A young boy facing the practical challenge of surviving alone
- A meeting that brings Native culture into the story of settlement
Expect
- Eighteenth-century Maine wilderness and a sustained coming-of-age narrative
- A thoughtful look at the changing frontier and its meaning
Where it sits
| US: Native American Stories | 95% |
|---|---|
| Colonial & Revolutionary U.S. | 70% |
| Survival Stories | 68% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Survival Stories
- Boys & Men
- US: Native American Stories
- U.S. History
Show all 6 publisher categories
- Friendship
- Values & Virtues
- Authors
- Elizabeth George Speare
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- August 2, 2011
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Wilderness survival · Native and settler relations · Changing frontier
- Reading lane
- Survival Stories