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5 fantastic farmyard books 14/03/25
Ghost Hawk
Publisher: Bodley Head Children's Books
When Little Hawk was 11, he was taken blindfolded into the winter forest by his father and left there alone; in three months time, should he survive, he would return to his village a man. But the world Little Hawk comes back to is not the one his father knew: settlers from across the sea have arrived in Wampanoag territory bringing with them fine goods, new religions, violence and disease. Amongst the rising tensions between the tribes and the newcomers, the lives of Little Hawk and one of the settlers, a young boy named John, become irrevocably and fatally linked.
Ghost Hawk is an emotionally complex, finely-wrought tale which recreates the world of 17th century America with both historical fidelity and respect. Deeply moving and thought-provoking, this is no means a comforting read: Cooper takes bold risks with both her characters and her narrative, and a sense of the unquiet ghosts of the past haunts this book's pages. A superb book, which deserves to become a future classic.
What you thought...
Average rating:
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Chloe, 30 October 2016
Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper grabbed me from the start partly due to her excellent writing and partly due to the period of history the story explores. The plight of the Native Americans is told throughout with a gentle touch that lends itself so well to uncovering the terrible injustices of the time without being too graphic or sensationalist. As I read, I found myself embroiled in the fight for survival of both the main characters and relished my time reading. Highly recommended for KS3/4 a...