Alone in the Wilderness

Rita McFadyean

"What a wonderful book! A pleasure to read, and informative too! Very upbeat story. Good book for youth of any ethnic origin."
—Blackfeet

Shantel Sommers

"Alone in the Wilderness is an intriguing story that educates as it entertains. It takes a very positive approach to everyday challenges, dealing with racism, seeking higher education, and finding the relevance of our past in modern culture. The fascinating part is watching a young man face the grueling physical challenges of surviving winter in the mountains. This is a thoroughly goo dbook. While it is especially geared toward the Native American youth, it would appeal to a wider audience–coming of age, finding the person you are or hope to be is a universal process felt throughout the world. How wonderful to see this from an Indian kid’s perspective."
—Cherokee

KLIATT

Flint Red Coyote is a high school senior who is challenged to spend three months in the wilderness alone. The challenge is issued during a discussion in history class about Thanksgiving and the part Native Americans played in helping the Pilgrims survive their first year. Prejudice against Native Americans is obvious and finally Flint Red Coyote has had enough. He states that if it were not for the Indians, the Pilgrims would not have survived. The discussion takes another turn when one of the students says that Native Americans of today could not survive in the wilderness because they have lost the knowledge needed for survival. Flint Red Coyote argues that his people still have the ability to survive in the wilderness, and the challenge is issued that he spend September through December alone living off the land. This is not the usual survival tale where the character is thrown into a dangerous situation and must make it on his own. The author takes the reader to the Beartooth Wilderness Area of Montana, and he skillfully blends fact and fiction so that the reader has a genuine feel for what Flint Red Coyote must endure in his quest for survival. Flint Red Coyote battles the elements, wildlife, and isolation in his attempt to win the challenge. In addition to the main character, the author adds a second character, Tobie, who encourages Flint Red Coyote to pursue the challenge. She appears at the beginning of the story and reappears at a critical time when the challenge is in jeopardy. A good addition to a collection of Native American tradition and culture. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2001, Naturegraph, 158p. illus., Beverly

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-Flint Red Coyote is challenged by high school classmates to go alone into Montana's Beartooth Wilderness for three months and live off the land as his ancestors did. To dispel their racist views of Native Americans and also to learn more about his Cheyenne heritage, the teen agrees to go and take only those supplies he can carry. During the preparation months, he builds a sled, dries food, and participates with his elders in a spiritual cleansing ceremony. Fact eclipses fiction, at first, as detailed Indian lore and skills are carefully described and shown in photos and illustrations. Vocabulary is defined in a readable context, rather than in a glossary. Action picks up when Flint waves good-bye to his friends and sets out for his base camp with his dog, O'kohome. The accounts of disasters such as an early snowstorm and losing his food supply to a grizzly bear are wonderfully realistic. Flint develops a spiritual resolve as he successfully marks off three months on his "coup stick." There is a flurry of excitement at the end as a friend nearly dies of hypothermia while trying to find his campsite and the resulting rescue makes Flint a local hero. Unfortunately, the print is small and difficult to read, and it seems odd to have a novel illustrated with unidentified photos. Ben Mikaelsen's Touching Spirit Bear (HarperCollins, 2001) is a similar story that hits all the marks when it comes to a modern teen surviving alone using Native American skills.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.