The Double Life of Pocahontas

by Jean Fritz

Overview

A complex and fascinating historical figure illuminated by Newbery Honor-winning Jean Fritz.

In a story that is as gripping as it is historical, Newbery Honor-winning author Jean Fritz reveals the true life of Pocahontas. Though at first permitted to move freely between the Indian and the white worlds, Pocahontas was eventually torn between her new life and the culture that shaped her.

"This book dispels myths and describes with immediacy the life of a girl whose active conscience made her a pawn, exploited by her own people and the white world." —Publishers Weekly

"Jean Fritz removes the romantic varnish from the legend and turns history into engrossing reality." —The New Yorker

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101077979
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/01/2002
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
Lexile:	910L (what's this?)
File size:	255 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jean Fritz, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Homesick, is best known for her engaging and enlightening nonfiction for young readers, including What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?, And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?, and Shh! We're Writing the Constitution. She was honored with the Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature by the New York State Library Association, and won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her career contribution to American children's literature.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Jean Fritz removes the romantic varnish from the legend and turns history into engrossing reality." —The New Yorker

Editorial Reviews

Fans of Fritz's lively nonfiction will be disappointed that this audio adaptation falls a bit flat. Perhaps Hughes is fettered by the historically accurate style of Fritz's prose, which is smoothly crafted but lacks dramatic dialogue. Hughes is primarily cast in the role of narrator, having little actual character work available to her to add color. Overall, her reading, though pleasant, is placid and restrained. Some listeners may draw comparisons with the experience of hearing a not particularly dynamic elementary school teacher reading a book to the class: one can follow and enjoy the tale, but the reader doesn't bring much to the story other than to act as a conduit for the author's text. Ages 9-up. (Mar.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4-7 - Jean Fritz's award-winning book (Putnam, 1983) provides an historically accurate account of the life of Pocahontas. The favored daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas finds herself torn between two worlds when the British settlers come to Jamestown and she becomes a link between the two diverse cultures. In a move engineered to save the life of Captain John Smith, Pocahontas performs a ritual that marks Smith as her kinsman-a relationship she honors with devotion but that he does not truly understand. Her father's appetite for weapons and the British need for food and desire for wealth led to multiple conflicts in which the princess was used as a pawn by both sides. Pocahontas left no written record of her experiences, and much of the information presented in the book has been gleaned from Smith's journals. While there is very little dialogue, narrator Melissa Hughes does an excellent job of varying her voice to express emotion and hold listeners' interest. This well-written account of Pocahontas's life will educate youngsters.-Deanna Romriell, Salt Lake City Public Library, UT

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

School Library Journal

"This book dispels myths and describes with immediacy the life of a girl whose active conscience made her a pawn, exploited by her own people and the white world." —Publishers Weekly

"Jean Fritz removes the romantic varnish from the legend and turns history into engrossing reality." —The New Yorker


Boston Globe­–­Horn Book Award for Nonfiction

From the Publisher

Jean Fritz built her reputation writing well-researched, nonromanticized books of history for children. This biography of Pocahontas, originally published in the early 1980s, shows that her reputation is well earned. Through careful use of historical documentation and clear identification of supposition from fact, the listener is given a balanced look at the first interaction of English settlers and Native Americans. Melissa Hughes reads the story with a tone of authority and compassion for all of the characters. She enlivens Pocahontas, a girl curious about these strangers who have come to her land. The listener comes away with admiration for a young woman, a pawn of both sides, who tried to bridge two cultures. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

JUN/JUL 07 - AudioFile