Steinmetz, Karen. The Mourning Wars.

Steinmetz, Karen. The Mourning Wars.
Roaring Brook Press see macmillan children's pub 2010 230p 18.99 978-1-59643-290-1 E-BN


Eunice Williams was a Puritan girl in the Deerfield, Massachusetts area of New England. One night Indians pillaged the town and took hostages. This book is Eunice’s story is about her survival in an A’onote tribe.
This is a very well written and researched story about a young girl who is taken hostage by an Indian. During the raid she watched her mother be ignored by her father as she struggled to survive the forced marches. This detail was a major factor later when her father came to find her.
Eunice was lucky enough to be adopted by an Indian family who had lost their daughter. She was adopted into the tribe and became their daughter. In reading this novel, readers will gain great deal of understanding about the Indian way of life during this period in American history. The author shows that the life Eunice led with the Indians was peaceful and full of love as a family unit. However, on the other hand it showed that the father ( a preacher) was a very self-centered individual. Eunice became aware that the only reason he wanted her to return to civilization was to enhance his standing with the church.
As years past, Eunice did open communication with her brothers and sisters who had be ransomed from the Indians.
This is a book to be read and enjoyed. It would fit very nicely with colonial American history units. McNeil, Linda