FEBRUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Author Bruce Coville narrates several of the nine stories in this varied collection. Others are delivered by featured narrators and/or members of the Full Cast Family. Two light horror stories are particularly good. “The Japanese Mirror” crackles with tension. Listeners hear narrator Jesse Navagh’s portrayal of annoyance, rage, and terror as the protagonist’s life becomes entwined with a bewitched mirror. “The Golden Sail” is a lushly atmospheric folktale narrated by Coville. While young listeners may relate to “Am I Blue,” a humorous coming-of-age ghost story about a boy questioning his sexuality, they should be aware that this older story contains some offensive language and stereotyped characterizations. “Biscuits of Glory” is a standout in which Coville and the Full Cast Family are the voices of a delightful singing ghost and the boy whose kitchen she haunts. L.T. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8Harsh and sometimes brutal, Walks Alone follows its Apache heroine through a series of difficult situations. The book begins with a raid carried out by Apache scouting for the U.S. government, in which Walks Alone's mother is killed, and ends with the girl's capture, along with other members of Victorio's band, by the Mexican army in 1880. Along the way, she endures privation and injury with fortitude and skill, and without complaint, ably caring for her young brother and a teenage widow with an infant daughter. Apache customs, skills, and religion are seamlessly worked into the text, and the tale's point of view is solely Apache. While this provides an enlightening antidote to various "Anglo"-centric tales of the frontier, it also creates a novel in which there are no "good" Anglos or Mexicans, and no "bad" Apache, except for those in the employ of the "White Eyes." Burks's writing style, both lean and formal, may put off some readers, but it also gives a valuable sense of distance from the grimness of the events, thereby helping to prevent youngsters from feeling overwhelmed by Walks Alone's tragedy. The girl's determination is also a key leavening. An interesting and useful, as well as counterbalancing, book to set alongside G. Clifton Wisler's many novels of the frontier and John Loveday's Goodbye, Buffalo Sky (McElderry, 1997).Coop Renner, Coldwell Elementary-Intermediate School, El Paso, TX
Kirkus Reviews
From Burks (Soldier Boy, 1997, etc.), a brutally effective portrayal of the realities of the destruction of Native American culture. The Warm Springs Apaches, led by Chief Victorio, are refusing to go to the barren reservation set aside for them when they are attacked by "White Eye" soldiers. Walks Alone, a teenage girl, is wounded and separated from the remnants of her people, who are fleeing to Mexico. With her very young brother she is taken in by another band, which is rounded up and imprisoned by the White Eyes. When she attempts to get medicine to save her sick brother, she is beaten, and her brother dies. She finally catches up with her people, but they are attacked again, the men massacred, and the women and children enslaved. Based on the historical events leading up to the Battle of Tres Castillos, this is an unremitting tale of the misery inflicted on Native Americans. Burks, as in the past, pulls no punches, so there is no possibility of a happy ending as Walks Alone is marched off to enslavement; the hopelessness of the ending matches that of her people. Since the story is wholly told through Walks Alone's perspective, the actions of others against her and her people are not only vicious, but utterly bewildering to her as well. (map, bibliography) (Fiction. 11-14)
FEBRUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Author Bruce Coville narrates several of the nine stories in this varied collection. Others are delivered by featured narrators and/or members of the Full Cast Family. Two light horror stories are particularly good. “The Japanese Mirror” crackles with tension. Listeners hear narrator Jesse Navagh’s portrayal of annoyance, rage, and terror as the protagonist’s life becomes entwined with a bewitched mirror. “The Golden Sail” is a lushly atmospheric folktale narrated by Coville. While young listeners may relate to “Am I Blue,” a humorous coming-of-age ghost story about a boy questioning his sexuality, they should be aware that this older story contains some offensive language and stereotyped characterizations. “Biscuits of Glory” is a standout in which Coville and the Full Cast Family are the voices of a delightful singing ghost and the boy whose kitchen she haunts. L.T. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
