Drums of Change - Janette Oke

Rating:2 Drink more Mint Juleps before reading (åå)

Pages: 240

Challenge: Reading Full Circle, Novella Challenge, A-Z Challenge (D Title)

Synopsis (from BN.com)
A young Indian girl must make a choice between the old ways of her people, the man she loves, and the white man's religion.

Comment

I just had to put in the Barnes & Nobel synopsis. Talk about summarizing a book in one sentence! I didn't think this book was excellent but I can think of more than one sentence...so here goes

My Synopsis

Running Fawn (notice I took on the challenge of using the character's name in the synopsis...just to prove I have read the book) and her Indian Tribe are at a pivotal point for their generation. The Indian Tribe is going through a transition to live on the White Man's Indian Reserve (after the Buffalo was eliminated and their food source was completely gone). A White man (the tribe calls him "Man with book") joins the tribe to teach them the Gospel. He starts a school and takes a special interest in Running Fawn and Silver Fox (the Chief's son). After the school has to disband Man with book convinces the tribe to let Running Fawn and Silver Fox to a boarding school to learn the ways of the white man. When Running Fawn learns her father is ill she leaves the school to meet up with the tribe. Silver Fox realizing she is in trouble follows her to help her make it to the tribe. This book has a little Christian inspiration, a little history, and a little romance.

Review

Although the book has a little of the topics it is very little. The concept is good and there are some American Indian books that I have loved, but this one missed the mark. I think that there were a lot of different parts of the history that could have been explored and the romance happened in the last chapter of the book. If you want to read Jannette Oke I would recommend Love Comes Softly.

By the way- was my synopsis better than B&N?

Love Comes Softly - Janette Oke

Rating: 5 Better than a new Derby Hat and the winning horse (¨¨¨¨¨)
Pages: 240
Challenges: Novella Challenge, 1st in a Series, A-Z Challenge L: Title

I read this book because I love the Hallmark movie and the book didn't disappoint! It is about Marty who looses her husband as soon as they get to the west. All she has to her name is a covered wagon with a broken wheel. A man proposes that he marries her, because he needs a mother for his young daughter (his wife died also) and she needs a house. Clark promises her that if she stays through the winter he will pay her fare to go back to the East. This story is about Marty and Clark's relationship and how Marty learns to be a homestead wife and mother. Also, Marty is pregnant with her husband, Clem's baby.
If you have seen the movie the book is different, but with the same story line. For example, in the movie Missy - Clark's daughter is 6 or 7 years old, in the book she is 2. In the movie, Marty learns to cook from some books she bought in the book one of the neighbors teaches her to cook and shares her recipes with her. Also in the book you learn a lot more about the neighbors and the ending is different than the movie. The ending has the same result, but it is a different climatic end. I would recommend this book and can't wait to read the rest of the series!!