Publishers Weekly
08/24/2020
In this ambitious novel in verse about the infamous 19th-century expedition, Wolf (The Day the Universe Exploded My Head) accomplishes the seemingly impossible: an evocative and sympathetic rendering of a horrific historical event. Told in eight distinctive voices—with Hunger in the role of omniscient narrator—among them several minor speakers, two children, and two Miwok vaqueros, the book builds in slow, harrowing suspense toward the moment when imminent starvation forces the characters to consider “a final contingency,” that one of their bodies “might deliver the rest from death.” As the original Donner and Reed family members travel west to California from Illinois, they join forces with others, eventually becoming a group of 87 that encounters increasingly difficult conditions and growing hunger, culminating in unexpected early blizzards (“Silent. And soft. And slow”) that strand the party. The individual voices quickly become recognizable, a combined chorus that creates a multidimensional telling of this “catastrophic failure” that haunts the problematic story of western expansion. The rich extensive back matter (including “Native Americans and the Donner Party,” “Reality Checks,” and numerous statistics) adds historical context and factual clarity to this arresting saga. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
In a stroke of brilliance, Hunger serves as a Greek chorus throughout the book. The hunger for food becomes the characters’ primary focus once the expedition goes figuratively south. But this narrative device also cleverly speaks to the many motivations of various Donner party members, including hunger for land, prestige, love, warmth and closeness to God. Although the surviving members of the group are eventually rescued, nothing is tied up with a neat and tidy bow. To his credit, Wolf does not sensationalize this story’s numerous tragedies, nor spare the reader illuminating details. The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep is historical fiction at its very best.
—BookPage (starred review)
Wolf applies the same narrative treatment he expertly deployed in The Watch That Ends the Night (2011) to another infamous tragedy, that of the Donner Party...Wolf stokes empathy in the reader for these most unfortunate travelers, and those whose fascination is also sparked will want to dig into the book’s back matter, which is packed with historical notes, biographies, stats, a time line, and resources on the Donner Party. Another bone-chilling, unshakable success by Wolf.
—Booklist (starred review)
Novelist-poet Wolf (The Watch that Ends the Night), using pacing that mimics the travelers' ratcheting plight, crafts a vivid story that humanizes the complicated episode it relates...Acknowledging the white presumptuousness of manifest destiny, Wolf honors the Miwok and their land, on which the Donner Party camped, as well as many of the tribal nations scarred by such wagon trips. Thoughtfully designed, ample white space evokes the bleakness of that interminable winter...An impressive, albeit woeful, slice of American history that older middle grade readers will sink their teeth into.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)
“Meticulously researched, increasingly more compelling with every page, and stunningly imagined, this journey with the Donner party details the grim reality endured by eighty-plus souls from April 1846 to April 1847 during their tragic attempt to reach the west coast. The reader is drawn in, becomes a member of the party, and endures the hardships and desperation along with the struggling travelers. As we face challenges in a contentious world rife with illness, suspicion, and fear, we should look to this book to illuminate the struggle to retain our hard-won humanity.”
—Karen Hesse, Newbery Medal–winning author of Out of the Dust
“Magnificent, apocalyptic, tender, and meticulous, The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep traverses all that it means to be human and all that it takes to survive.”
—Gigi Amateau, author of Come August, Come Freedom
“In a nearly athletic feat of craft and imagination, Allan Wolf guides us on a trail whose final stop is the darkest part of our own humanity. What would I have done? we are forced to ask. This is a brave, important book, powerful in its effect and deep in its perception of the many faces of Hunger. An essential read for these times.”
—David Elliott, author of Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc
Allan Wolf has truly carved out a niche for himself in the realm of the historical novel-in-verse...Even the most reluctant readers, and certainly American history students, will find this historical novel riveting. Pair this with the author’s New Found Land: Lewis and Clark’s Voyage of Discovery (Candlewick 2004).
—School Library Connection
There’s plenty of scope for melodrama here, but given the reality of death by starvation, the roles of prayer, recrimination, despair, and hallucination are apt. The scheme of multiple voices allows Wolf to first establish personalities and then to follow the respective fates...End matter, ranging from Wolf’s commentary on how he approached fictionalizing this historic chapter to lists and statistics and thumbnails on Donner Party members, earns its hefty page count.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
In this ambitious novel in verse about the infamous 19th-century expedition, Wolf (The Day the Universe Exploded My Head) accomplishes the seemingly impossible: an evocative and sympathetic rendering of a horrific historical event...The rich extensive back matter (including “Native Americans and the Donner Party,” “Reality Checks,” and numerous statistics) adds historical context and factual clarity to this arresting saga.
—Publishers Weekly Online
This historical narrative reads like a thriller, with nature, arrogance, ignorance, and greed as the villains, and it focuses on white settlers without glorifying them...This mature corrective to cultural mythology horrifies and edifies.
—Kirkus Reviews
The plight of the infamous Donner Party is told in the form of short essays, prayers, and poems...Wolf provides detailed notes and historical context. The names of local tribes and the Indigenous name for the lake the families sheltered at are provided. Brief biographies of the survivors round out the notes. VERDICT A detailed account of the Donner Party’s travel and survival. A good companion title Skila Brown’s To Stay Alive.
—School Library Journal
School Library Journal
09/01/2020
Gr 9 Up—The plight of the infamous Donner Party is told in the form of short essays, prayers, and poems. "Hunger" is the omniscient narrator providing an overview of the activity, with members of the Reed family as the dominant narrators. The perspective of two Miwok guides leading one of the rescue parties shows the effect of Manifest Destiny on Indigenous populations. Divided into sections that follow the party from Illinois to California, the narrative chronicles the arrogance which led to the decision to use a "new" untested trail, and the severe consequences the families suffered as a result. Trapped by early, heavy snowfall, small groups left in search of supplies and assistance. Some made it through and found help. Rescue parties were formed with several attempts made to reach the families at their camps, but some of these rescue parties met the same fate as the families they set out to save. Eventually, the survivors were rescued and taken to Sutter's Fort. Wolf provides detailed notes and historical context. The names of local tribes and the Indigenous name for the lake the families sheltered at are provided. Brief biographies of the survivors round out the notes. VERDICT A detailed account of the Donner Party's travel and survival. A good companion title Skila Brown's To Stay Alive. For general purchase.—Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Lib., WA
JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile
A tale of colonialism, murder, and cannibalism might seem sensationalized, but this audiobook-in-verse about the ill-fated 1846 journey of Donner party is grounded by multiple perspectives. Leading the cast is Bahni Turpin, whose smooth performance as the omniscient narrator, Hunger, is all the more chilling for its grim, merciless edge. While other individual voices stand out—particularly the deep brogue of Tim Gerard Reynolds as headstrong James Reed—some of the most affecting moments feature multiple voices. Even the oxen speak up during the rhythmic trudge across the Great Salt Lake Desert. As winter takes its grisly toll, Hunger interjects with ever-growing litanies of the dead, underscored by a windswept chant of the word "snow." Collectively, it's a grim, gripping, and haunting listen. R.A.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2020-06-20
In the spring of 1846, a large caravan set out from Springfield, Illinois, seeking land and fortune in California.
Some of the families knew each other; most of them did not. They traveled together for safety and tolerated each other as individual personalities and ambitions become apparent on the trip. The narrators are so numerous that it is difficult to keep track of them all; among them are three members of the Reed family—teenage Virginia, dubbed “the Princess”; young Patty, “the Angel,” whose sections are addressed to God; and their father, James, who set his sights on leadership and faster travel via a shortcut. Other characters include a woman dubbed “the Scholar,” who is attached to her books; an orphan teen who joins the party along the way; and a German man who loses his faculties as one of the last survivors. Another narrator who outlasts the rest is the impersonal Hunger, whose familiarity with human longing explains the extreme behavior of the travelers. This historical narrative reads like a thriller, with nature, arrogance, ignorance, and greed as the villains, and it focuses on White settlers without glorifying them. The two Miwok vaqueros who serve as guides for a portion of the journey leave readers wanting more Indigenous voices; their presence, though, adds to the title’s poignancy as an exploration of the inhumanity involved in Westward expansion.
This mature corrective to cultural mythology horrifies and edifies. (maps, author’s note, historical notes, glossaries, additional reading) (Verse historical fiction. 14-18)
