In this classic frontier adventure, Lois Lenski reconstructs the real life story of Mary Jemison, who was captured in a raid as young girl and raised amongst the Seneca Indians. Meticulously researched and illustrated with many detailed drawings, this novel offers an exceptionally vivid.
In this classic frontier adventure, Lois Lenskireconstructs the real life story of Mary Jemison, who was captured in a raid as young girl and raised amongst the Seneca Indians.
Meticulously researched and illustrated with many detailed drawings, this novel offers an exceptionally vivid and personal portrait of Native American life and customs.
Lois Lenski was a renowned author and illustrator of children’s and young adult literature. Born in 1893, in Springfield, Ohio, Lois was a voracious reader from a young age, a passion that never left her. During her college studies at Ohio State University, where she trained to be a teacher, she took as many art courses as she could make time for and was the art editor for the university yearbook. Read more about her here.
“In the book Indian Captive by Lois Lenski a young girl named Molly is captured by the Seneca Nation Native Americans and is taken to live with them. There she learns how to be tough and grow up in a different culture.
After Molly is taken she struggles not to forget her family by repeating their names and talking to herself in English. While living with the Senecas Molly starts to notice how much she is starting to look and act like them. Molly starts going back and forth between wanting to like the Senecas and at the same time turning away their way of life. Molly’s biggest struggle is between adapting to the Seneca culture or holding on and never forgetting her own.
The book Indian Captive takes place during the French and Indian War around 1754, When Molly was captured. In this war the Senecas were on the French side and they were fighting against the British. Molly was captured to replace a young boy who was killed by the British. She was just one of the many children captured by the Senecas as retribution for the killing of a member of their tribe. Molly never really had a side because she was with the Senecas who now cared and loved her but she still wanted to go back to her white American family.
In the end, Molly learned her family died and is faced with possibly one of the hardest decisions in her life. Should she stay with the Senecas that have raised her? Or go back to the culture she was raised in? Throughout the book, she wants to adapt to the culture of the Senecas but also doesn’t want to forget her own culture. This is the struggle molly continues to have. The choice Molly makes really reflects on her internal struggle.
Think this book was great because it is always moving. I found it hard to get bored while reading this because I was always wondering what would happen next. Another reason I liked this book is that even though this book is partially fictional it takes an actual history of the French and Indian war into play. If you are looking for a book that is fun, intriguing, and historical I would definitely recommend this book to you.” -Amazon Reviewer
